CricketViewer.com

Coaching Pakistani cricket team has never been an easy task. Regardless of the nationality of the coach, historically, his departure always leaves a trail of some tragic tales. The latest departure of Pakistani coach was the gloomiest and darkest of all. One of the Achilles ‘heels of Pakistan have remained a coach, who could introduce the professionalism in team. Sadly enough, that has never been the case.

After the tragic and mysterious death of Bob Woolmer, one of the daunting tasks faced by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was the appointment of a new coach for the team. Soon after the death of Bob, there was a strong impression that the next coach would be a Pakistani, but wisely enough, PCB decided to not to rush it. They, in the larger interest of the game, advertised the post on their website and invited the application from across the planet. Though, former big players raised lots of hue and cry over this, but this transparency is good enough for the future of cricket.

After Bob Woolmer, many names have been surfaced for the contenders of this post; names like Aaqib Javed, former Pakistani fast bowler, John Wright, the former Indian coach, and some others; but the man who is likely to replace Bob Woolmer as a Pakistani coach is seemed to be Dave Whatmore, whose tenure with Bangladeshi team as their coach is expiring very soon.

The backdoor contacts between Whatmore and PCB officials are no secret, and both parties have made it pubic that early negotiations are in progress, but nothing is finalized yet. According to Nasim Ashraf, chairman PCB, Dave Whatmore has showed interest in the post, and according to Dave Whatmore, he has been contacted by PCB for the post.

Dave Whatmore’s dynamic approach has successfully turned a lame Bangladeshi outfit into a serious opponent against any team. The ‘minnow’ status of Bangladesh is rapidly fading due to the coaching of Dave Whatmore. I believe that, if all goes well, and if everyone works in a good faith, Dave Whatmore could be a good choice for Pakistani team, as it is not that experienced and mature and like Bangladesh is full with youth and stamina. Along with Shoaib Malik, Whatmore stands a chance to prove his mettle and play his role in resurrecting the former world champions. His job would not be easy for sure, but he has got better odds with Pakistan than Bangladesh. Players and coaches alone cannot bring about success at field, if there aren’t devoted cricket board officials at both national and local levels.