Karachi, April 29 (Inditop) The performance of Pakistan’s coaching staff headed by Intikhab Alam is being questioned in the wake of a series of defeats against Sri Lanka at home and Australia in the UAE.
Media reports Wednesday raised a big question mark on the justification of hiring two coaches — Alam and Aaquib Javed (bowling coach) – after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sacked Australian Geoff Lawson last year on the grounds that he was too expensive and was not meeting targets.
“PCB chief Ijaz Butt sacked Lawson saying that he was too expensive. But now he has hired two coaches, who are even more expensive than Lawson and are a burden on the board that is facing a financial crunch,” said a report in one of the mainstream Urdu dailies Wednesday.
Lawson was receiving a salary of around Pakistani Rs.14 million a year and other perks. The former Australia pacer was sacked after Butt took over last fall. Butt hired Alam, a former Pakistan captain, as the new coach at a lower salary.
The PCB chief then appointed Aaquib as an assistant coach. Together the two receive combined salaries of around Pakistani Rs.11 million per annum but their perks and other expenses make them more expensive than Lawson, said the report.
It added that the Alam-Javed team has failed to deliver so far as Pakistan’s winning ration has gone down to 45 percent compared to 80 percent under Lawson. Under Alam, Pakistan have lost a one-day series against Sri Lanka at home and is down 1-2 against Australia in the ongoing series in UAE.
rounak