Comment: What more, after Whatmore?

Whatmore took over the reins when Zaka Ashraf gave the go-ahead by declaring Mohsin ‘unqualified’ for the job.

Rewind back to March 2012 — Dav Whatmore gets the nod from the Pakistan Cricket Board to take over as the head coach for two years, since he was a ‘qualified’ and well reputed coach.  

‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, but in hindsight it seems that the PCB did overlook this age-old adage.

The former Aussie Test cricketer’s appointment came on the back of three consecutive Test series victories over Bangladesh, England and Sri Lanka including a 3-0 whitewash over the then number one team England – arguably Pakistan’s biggest scalp in recent years.    Mohsin Khan had replaced fast-bowling legend Waqar Younis after the former speedster quit, citing health reasons despite a fairly successful stint as head coach.

Currently it seems Whatmore has become a bitter pill to swallow for the PCB as the body anxiously waits for his contract to expire.

The reason is that the team that was progressing so well after the dreadful tour of England in 2010 under Waqar and later Mohsin, failed to win a single Test series under Whatmore.  In fact, it had to face the embarrassment of losing in a One-Day International and Test against the unfancied Zimbabwe.

Apart from this regression, the PCB’s exchequer will show a loss in millions if the difference between salaries of Whatmore and Mohsin is calculated.

The Australian took over the reins when Zaka Ashraf, the suspended PCB chairman, gave the go-ahead by declaring Mohsin ‘unqualified’ for the job. However, in a recent interview, Ashraf held the coach’s hunt committee responsible for his appointment.

So far none of the committee members have accepted the responsibility.

But the question remains: will everything settle if Whatmore is made the scapegoat for all recent failures with his likely transfer to the National Cricket Academy?

The current chairman Najam Sethi, who is another government handpicked appointment, has apparently started mulling over a possible replacement for Whatmore.

But with no cricket background, Sethi runs to the so called ‘cricket experts’ for important decisions.

A testimony – a journalist of the same group that Sethi works for wrote that Moin Khan’s appointment as the chief selector was made upon his recommendation.

The former captain couldn’t last for long in the capacity but was adjusted as manger and is now among the ones being considered as Whatmore’s replacement — not to forget some media men have their own agendas and relying on them could be detrimental to the PCB. Moin’s presence has already prompted reports of infighting in the team management.   Instead Sethi should try and win the confidence of some of the leading cricket brains in the country.

On the other hand, there is no guarantee that whatever happened in the last two years would not happen again since the ‘system’ to appoint the chairman remains unchanged.

One agrees with the views of former speedster Shoaib Akhtar, who wants to rope in former cricketers as volunteers to run the affairs instead of paying them heavily.

This might be the way to figure out who the sincere guardians of Pakistan cricket are.

The writer is a sports reporter at The Express Tribune

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2013.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.