“Waqar no doubt was a great player for Pakistan but as a coach he was a total failure”
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Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal believes that Waqar Younis did more harm than good during his two stints as head coach in 2010-2011 and 2014-2016.
Kamran also slammed Waqar for failing to lead the national team to any memorable victories and added that he was not a fan of the ex-pace bowler’s “enthusiasm to experiment”.
“With due respect, Waqar was a failure as coach and he caused lot of damage to Pakistan cricket. In his enthusiasm to experiment and sideline established players, he put the national team back by two to three years,” Kamran was quoted as saying by Dawn.
In addition to this, Kamran claimed that Waqar had issues with a few players in the side and was unable to formulate clear plans on how to make Pakistan a powerhouse in world cricket again.
“I don’t know the reasons but Waqar certainly had issues with some players. He had no plans on how to take Pakistan forward,” he said. “An example was when he went to the 2015 World Cup and asked Younis Khan to open the innings and then sidelined Sarfraz Ahmed until late in the tournament.”
While Kamran admits that Waqar was one of the best bowlers Pakistan ever produced, he insisted that the 45-year-old was a “total failure” as a head coach.
“I can remember Umar Akmal scored a hundred in an Asia Cup match and in the next game he was batting behind Shahid Afridi and others,” Kamran added. “Waqar no doubt was a great player for Pakistan but as a coach he was a total failure.”
Waqar ended up resigning after Pakistan’s poor showing at the 2016 World Twenty20, but since then, the legendary seamer has criticised Kamran on a number of occasions and also questioned why he was selected for the national team’s tour of the West Indies earlier this year.
“I have played under different coaches including Bob Woolmer and I can say they used to plan and they used to create a rapport with the players,” Kamran said. “Waqar insisted on training hard all the time and not having the players also focus on their skills and cricket development was damaging to the team. The best part is that Waqar as coach himself kept two keepers in the side.”