Younis Khan and Abdul Razzaq blame Waqar Younis for Pakistan's poor show since 2014
Senior Pakistan batsman Younis Khan and former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq blamed the national head coach Waqar Younis for the team's slide in the limited overs format in recent times.
Earlier this year the Pakistan team performed well in the Test series against England but lost both the limited overs format series.
At a function in Karachi, the veteran batsman, who recently retired from the One Day International (ODI) format after the first game against England in Abu Dhabi said, “There shouldn’t be an atmosphere of fear in the dressing room.”
“When the players are not made to feel secure, how can they perform for the country?”
“I think that person should be coach of the Pakistan team who can keep the players united.”
Khan feels that the Pakistan team needs a coach who can make the players feel secure and also identified a reason for the recent failures as the induction of many young players and not allowing a combination to settle down.
Waqar has hidden agenda: Razzaq
He said that there was a time when Pakistan was the top T20 side but now T20 cricket had undergone changes and every team now took it seriously.
Khan added, "They are several teams now capable of beating us in this format."
Former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq stated that a coach must respect his players and instil confidence in them, also stating that Waqar Younis has a 'hidden agenda' against senior cricketers.
In a recent interview Razzaq said, “If I say something, the board thinks we are criticizing them but I think they just need to look at what has happened in recent months to realize where we are going wrong,”
“Players need to be given confidence and respect; if that is missing from a coach how can you expect results.”
In May 2014, Waqar was reappointed as the head coach of Pakistan Cricket Team and since then Pakistan have taken part in nine bilateral ODI series and have won just three contests with two of those wins coming against Zimbabwe.
This performance of Pakistan in the ODIs has seen the team slip to the eighth position in the International Cricket Council team rankings.
After their 3-0 defeat in the T20I series against England, Pakistan have also slipped to the sixth position in the team rankings.