Bringing in a new Messiah

Less than three years after stepping down as Pakistan’s fast bowling coach, Waqar Younis is all set to make his comeback in the national cricket set-up.

Well-placed sources told Nukta.com on Tuesday that the former Pakistan captain has been handpicked by Mohsin Naqvi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, to supervise all cricket-related matters. Though his designation is yet to be decided, it is expected that Waqar will be roped in as Director of Cricket and would be made responsible for both domestic and international cricket.

According to sources, the decision has been made by Naqvi, who wants to relinquish some of his powers and hand them over to a former cricketer. He has opted for Waqar Younis, regarded among the greatest fast bowlers produced by Pakistan.

Waqar, who is a full-time cricket commentator, has rich cricketing credentials.

He bagged 373 Test and 416 One-day International (ODI) wickets during an illustrious career spanning over almost 15 years. After retiring in 2003, Waqar began his second innings when he was brought in as Pakistan’s bowling coach in the spring of 2006.

Four years later, he became head coach of Pakistan, a job he handled till August 2011. While Pakistan were embroiled in several off-field controversies during that period - the spot-fixing scandal in England and Zulqarnain Haider fleeing to the UK happened during those 18 months - the on-field results were pretty good: Pakistan drew a Test series in South Africa, won in New Zealand, and reached the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup.

He was later shortlisted as one of the candidates for Australia's bowling coach, while he also had a short coaching stint in the BPL, but his next high-profile assignment came in May 2014, when he returned as Pakistan's coach for a second term. He served as bowling coach under Misbah-ul-Haq before quitting in September 2021.

Over the years, Waqar didn’t really succeed as coach, at least not in the long run. The question is whether he will be able to succeed in his new role as PCB’s top man on cricket affairs? Before him, the role was unofficially handed to Wahab Riaz, another fast bowler but whose caliber was no where near Waqar’s. Wahab failed in that role and was sacked in the aftermath of Pakistan’s T20 World Cup debacle earlier this year.

While Wahab did not have the experience, Waqar has plenty of it. But whether he will be able to make good use of it remains to be seen.