Leaked report ruined my relationship with Afridi, says Waqar

Tug of war between PCB's ‘two heads’ cause of Pakistan cricket’s downward spiral

Former Pakistan cricket head coach Waqar Younis has said that his working relation with former T20I captain Shahid Afridi has been ruined after his scathing report on the team recent performances was leaked.

Waqar, who was once Pakistan captain himself, resigned earlier this week after his report, which he had submitted to the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Fact-Finding committee, was published in sections of the media.

"I have been very clear that report was for the cricket board, not the media,” he said in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. “Unfortunately, the report was leaked and my relationship with Afridi has been spoilt."



The 44-year-old went on to say that Afridi’s biggest weakness was his temperament and said he lacked the ability to concentrate for longer periods.

"Afridi's drawbacks as a captain are for everyone to see. He has a temperament issue. He cannot sit for too long to highlight things, or absorb things and then go and implement them. I've said this in my report."

Waqar added that he was more compatible with Pakistan Test captain Misbahul Haq. “My relationship with Misbah was excellent and we all know that. Because I think he has got a great temperament for cricket. When you sit with him, he can talk about cricket for hours. And I think when you are a captain you need to absorb a lot of things from the coach."



Tug of war between PCB's ‘two heads’ 

Further, the former coach went on to state that the main cause of Pakistan cricket’s downward spiral was the tug of war between the ‘two heads’ of PCB, wherein Najam Sethi and Shaharyar Khan tried to the pull the game in two different directions.

"The biggest issue was having two heads of a family; [it] did not help the cause," he said. "Not only for the coach but cricket overall also suffered because the PCB has two heads and two different directions. That needs to be looked into. That is very important."

He went on to say that the PCB should start helping the growth of cricket in Pakistan but at the moment it is the cricketers who have to run after the management for help.



"I have said previously that people in a cricket board should approach the team and the coaching staff,” Waqar suggested. “They should approach us to improve things, because they are for the cricket team, for the game; the cricket team is not for them,” he added. The former cricket star went on to rue that we have a culture where the cricket teams has to beg for things from the administrators. “It should be the other way around and it needs to be changed on an immediate basis."

Waqar, who retired earlier this week with three months of service remaining in his contract, said he wanted to fix the system by staying in it and this was the reason he didn’t call it quits earlier.



"I couldn't do exactly what I wanted to. I'm always in support of the younger players coming through, indulging the younger players, but unfortunately it did not happen,” he explained. “There were forces that didn't allow me [to do so]. Some people ask why didn't I leave early but I have faith in the idea that to fix the system, you have to stay in the system. I've tried to fix it, but it didn't work.”

Waqar Younis was interviewed by ESPNcricinfo