Search the Internet          Tips

Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar to fly back home

Faisal Shariff in Colombo

On Saturday night Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar stood alone in Colombo's Taj Samudra hotel lobby, waiting for a word about his flight tickets.

Travelling back to Pakistan in the middle of the Champions Trophy was embarrassing for the coach who did not know what the future held for him.

"I am flying back home without any knowledge of what the General [Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Tauqir Zia] has in mind," he said.

"It could mean the coach being changed, it could mean the captain being changed. It could mean a new team plan or a new strategy. Maybe I might come back," he said.

Assessing his performance as a coach he said that Pakistan has done very well under him and he played the role of an elder brother to the younger players.

Defending Pakistan's dismal performance, he said the team is a very good unit, but many of the youngsters who have married recently are distracted.

"The cancelled tours and the inability of the team to play at home have been the other reasons that performances have dropped steeply and surprised our supporters. But once you slide it is difficult to pull back easily," he admitted.

The former Test opener said that Pakistan has never ever been a consistent side and it has been the case for more than a decade.

Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in a virtual elimination match on Friday and failed to reach the final of the Morocco tri-series besides sharing the trophy with Australia in Nairobi after rain forced the final to be abandoned.

New Zealand were the last team to tour Pakistan last May but abandoned the tour on the morning of the second Test in Karachi after a bomb blast outside their hotel.

The Australian series has been shifted to Sri Lanka and Sharjah. With Inzamam ul Haq most likely to miss the next World Cup after suffering from a serious heel injury that will require surgery according to the team doctor, Pakistan cricket faces yet another crisis.

Saeed Anwar has hinted that if he does not get a big score soon his chances of playing the World Cup are bleak.