Pakistan: Miandad appointed coach; Sohail named captain (17 Aug 1998)

17 August 1998

Miandad appointed coach; Sohail named captain

By Muhammad Yaqoob

LAHORE, Aug 16: Celebrated Test batsman Javed Miandad was appointed new coach and opener Aamir Sohail as captain of the Pakistan senior cricket team for the Sahara Cup five-match series against India at Toronto.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) executive council, which met at the Qadhafi Stadium on Sunday with chairman Khalid Mahmood in chair, also decided to appoint its member Azhar Zaidi as manager of the team.

Saleem Elahi was handed the responsibilities of captain of the Pakistan "A" side which will participate in the 16th Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur. Test off-spinner Arshad Khan will be his deputy. Both were members of the Pakistan "A"team which participated in the Super Eight Cricket Tournament at Kuala Lumpur under Basit Ali. He has been retained as a member but deposed from captaincy.

Former Test wicketkeeper and opener Col Naushad Ali will be manager of the team.

The house named former Test opener Mohsin Khan as coach of the side. However, his appointment will be subject to his acceptance of the assignment.

Briefing mediamen at conclusion of the council meeting, PCB public relations advisor Lt.-Col. (retd.) Rafi Nasim said that period of appointment of Javed Miandad was not specified. However, Aamir Sohail had been named captain and Azhar Zaidi as manager for the Sahara Cup series only. Similarly, all appointments for the Pakistan "A" side had also been done for the Commonwealth Games only which would be organised from Sept 11 to 21.

As for selection of players for the Pakistan senior team, Mr Rafi Nasim said that the council has met with the demand of the national selection committee to appoint a coach and a captain.

"Now it is up to the selection committee to pick the cricketers", said the advisor.

Mr Rafi Nasim said that chief selector Wasim Bari along with other selectors Shafique Ahmad "Papa" and Salahuddin "Sallo Bhai" apprised the council about its programme. Initially, 26 probables will be picked by them, in consultation with captain Aamir Sohail and coach Javed Miandad. They will attend National Senior Camp at the Qadhafi Stadium, for which dates will be announced shortly. However, he hinted that the name of Salim Malik would be among the 26 players. It may be mentioned here that Salim Malik had not been picked for the Pakistan team since appearing in the Sahara Cup in September last.

The advisor said that the selection committee informed the house about its future policy, which would lay main emphasis on building a strong team for the Seventh World Cup Cricket Tournament to be held in England in 1999. The chief selector Wasim Bari said that his committee would encourage youngsters and groom them to replace five to seven senior Test cricketers, who were at the fag end of their careers and could bow out after the World Cup.

"The selection committee will select any player on basis of his performance, keeping in view the prevalent conditions and type of opposition he played against", said Wasim Bari.

The council granted a final extension of three monthsto the PCB probe committee for completion of its job.The committee has been investigating into the allegations of betting and match-fixing against certain players.

"The PCB probe committee chairman Ijaz Yousaf, who is also the council member from Quetta, told the house that statements of nine players have been recorded. However, four or five cricketers have yet to appear before the committee. The council decided, in principal, not to consider any cricketer guilty of match-fixing until the probe committee gives its findings. That is the reason why Salim malik and Wasim Akram will also be included in the camp", said Mr Rafi Nasim.

Theadvisorsaid that the constitutionalmatters, included granting full membership of the council to the NWFP and Balochistan provinces and revival of the Domestic Tournament Monitoring Committee (DTMC) had been deferred until the next meeting. The DTMC was dissolved by Majid Khan when he assumed the charge of the PCB chief executive in 1996.

While replying to a question, Mr Rafi Nasim said that the case to determine the genuine body of the Pakistan women's cricket had been given to Mrs Shaheen Khan, who is a council member, representing the University Grants Commission (UGC). The Senate Sports Committee has asked the PCB to file a report on the issue by Aug 22.

The advisor said that 5.5 million rupees hadbeen earmarked by the PCB to make payment for contracts to the cricketers. In future, contracts for monthly remuneration ranging between ten thousand to forty-thousand rupees would be signed with the national cricketers, keeping in view their standing.

Source:: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)