Waqar Younis has hidden agenda against seniors: Abdul Razzaq

Pakistan all-rounder slams national team coach for ruining the careers of many senior players

KARACHI: Pakistan team's blistering all-rounder Abdul Razzaq slammed the national team coach for ruining the careers of many senior players in the past through his 'hidden agenda', reported Press Trust of India.

Even before the start of the World Cup, Razzaq presented his theory of Waqar launching a campaign against seniors.

"Waqar Younis has some sort of hidden agenda against senior players and whenever he has been appointed coach he has shunted them out and tried to destroy their careers," Razzaq said in an interview.

"When he first became coach in 2011, he targeted me and Muhammad Yousuf and the latter never played for Pakistan again even though he could have carried on for a few more years. Shoaib Akhtar also had to retire in his previous tenure."

Read: Razzaq hits out at Waqar for campaign against 'seniors'

Razzaq said Waqar was responsible for ousting Shahid Afridi in 2011 stripping him of his captaincy.

"Since then we have not progressed in limited overs cricket particularly ODIs and I blame Misbah-ul-Haq for this. People look at his performances to defend him but the truth is he has totally changed the mindset of our players to being fearful and slow and even the new players are affected by this new culture."

He further said that Waqar is not stopping in the near future and has targeted Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal this time.

"I am sorry to say this but Waqar was a great bowler but as a manager his management skills are very poor and this is because of his agenda against seniors and his refusal to change with times," he said.

"After what happened in the World Cup I think Pakistan needs to change its approach to one-day cricket and we need to produce more power hitters and genuine all-rounders. Unless we change the balance and mindsets of our one-day players Pakistan will continue to lag in the ODI rankings."

He concluded with remarks on Pakistani players' exclusion from the Indian Premier League hurting their performance.

"Players from other countries have taken advantage of the IPL but unfortunately Pakistani players are missing out for not fault of their own," he said.

The story originally appeared on NDTV.com