‘Tour to help youngsters’

Coach Waqar aims to use WI series to train newcomers.

LAHORE:

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis is looking to use the West Indies tour to train more youngsters as the country gears up for the future. Six uncapped players feature in the squad for the Caribbean tour that will see Pakistan play five One-Day Internationals, two Tests and a Twenty20.

“In the last eight months we’ve done pretty well by utilising the available players and training them for the future,” said Younis after the conclusion of the two-day training camp in Lahore. “The most important thing that people may have ignored is that it’s a very difficult task to reassemble the players and still manage to do well.”

The former captain added that the rebuilding and fine-tuning process continues even after the World Cup.

“Changes after a World Cup are a conventional practice and should be made. After all, our foremost target actually is the World Cup. We aren’t taking the West Indies tour lightly by any means as they have always proved to be tough competitors when they play at home.”

The former fast-bowler added that the tour will also help Pakistan focus on the mistakes made during the World Cup.

“We’ve selected some new players with the hope that they are groomed and serve the country in the future. Whatever inadequacies we had during the World Cup, we want to overcome them.”

Irked by the batting  coach debate

Meanwhile, Younis was also irked by the debate surrounding the recruitment of former captain Javed Miandad as the team’s batting coach. Miandad, on Tuesday, turned down the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) offer and said that past incidents made his decision easy.

However, Younis stressed that the PCB should look at other options. “I don’t know why we go round and round and come back to Miandad. If he doesn’t want to do the job then we must ask someone else for help,” said Younis.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th,  2011.