Miandad tipped to be Pakistan coach again

Come Sunday, and Javed Miandad, in all probability will be named as coach of the Pakistan team. The Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) advisory panel meeting in Peshawar is all set to announce Miandad's posting as coach for the tournament in Sharjah to be held from March 22-31. His term is likely to be an extended one too.

This will be Miandad's second stint as coach, the first term lasting eight months, from September 1998 to April 1999. He had quit the post two weeks before the World Cup after developing differences with some senior players including the then skipper Wasim Akram. The differences, in fact, were so serious that they became public at a reception given by the deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff in Islamabad where a few senior players refused to accept him as the coach. Now the same senior players - Akram, Saeed Anwar and Moin Khan (along with Aamer Sohail) are believed to have made the request to re-appoint Miandad.

According to this correspondent's highly placed sources close to the PCB, during the Pakistan team's recent unsuccessful tour to Australia, the captain Akram asked the PCB's permission to utilise the services of Miandad, it is learnt. However, his plea was not favoured.

Miandad is now believed to have assured the PCB that if no fruitful results are achieved, the Board would be at liberty to remove him at any point of time. He has not demanded the assignment on a long term basis.

The senior players have favoured the choice of Miandad rather than England's Geoffery Boycott or South Africa's Barry Richards or Eddie Barlow. The players? main argument was that Boycott has, time and again displayed an open stance against these players. During his commentary tenure, Boycott has criticised the players performance on several occasions which has irked the senior players. However, Boycott who has been recommended by none other than Imran Khan, if appointed, may be asked to look after the junior cricketers in consultation with Mudassar Nazar, who some time ago, was tipped to be the seniors coach.

The present coach Intikhab Alam is set to be released after the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka. The PCB has been asked by the ICC to release Intikhab Alam, who is also a match referee, due to the heavy international schedule.