KARACHI

Despite being in the line of fire after team's dismal performance in the ICC World Twenty20 and Asia Cup, Pakistan's coach Waqar Younis on Sunday refused to step down from his position.
The former skipper of Pakistan said he would not go out as a "villain". "I am being portrayed as the villain. If the Board wants to remove me they first have to inform me in writing. I have no issues but I will not go like this," Waqar told PTI.
Legendary pacer also lashed out at his critics, who are severely blaming him for team's failure. "I think first these people should look at their own self. I don't want to get into a war of words with them right now," he said.
He also claimed to have been more successful coach of Pakistan team for the past several years. "I'm not saying I'm the best coach but my track record has been good as compared to others," he reckoned.
Waqar, whose two-year contract expires in May, said he had tried his best to settle the team. Livid that the report prepared by him and team manager Intikhab Alam was leaked to the media, Waqar demanded that those responsible for it be penalised.
"Leakage of confidential reports is a crime and first I want the people or person who did this to be exposed and punished for putting Pakistan cricket in turmoil," he said.
"Everyone knows that our board has chronic problems. I think it is time that we should take steps towards the betterment of cricket," he said.
Waqar was of the view that various key posts in the PCB were occupied by non-professional and incapable people and insisted that those should be handled by professionals. He urged for the appointment of young and vibrant people in the board like former skippers Wasim Akram and Ramiz Raja, who he said could exhibit energy and work to lift the game. "We've to hire professionals for every key post in the board."
He urged former cricketers to come forward to save Pakistan stating "Let us work together for the sake of our cricket."
"We should give a five-year plan for our cricket. This plan should be published in the media so that people may know what efforts are being made. This has become very necessary," he maintained.
He also believed that selection, coaching and captaincy should be clubbed together to achieve better results. "Bringing these three together has become very necessary," he said adding that in Pakistan the coach was still being taken in the same way as was the case in 1992 or before that, when the captain used to be more powerful.
Waqar also believed that PCB was not being run by one chief but in reality there were two people, overseeing the affairs. "Two fathers can't run a house. But unfortunately in our board we've two people, who are sitting at the similar sort of posts," he said.
Meanwhile, PCB’s chairman Executive Board Najam Sethi on Sunday responded to his critics stating that the critique that non-cricketers are running the affairs of the cricket board are baseless as the International Cricket Council (ICC) is also being administered by non-cricketers.
While addressing the audience during a conversation at a conference in Lahore, Sethi said that he will bring forth the names of those who blackmail the cricket board in one of his upcoming books.
Sethi said the dilemma of Pakistani cricket is that no international teams come to the country to play cricket. He added that the Pakistan Super League (PSL) brought back some life in cricket as people abandoned television shows and switched towards PSL matches despite the fact that the League was opposed by the Cricket Board.
He further said that whenever the team loses, it’s PCB that faces all the criticism whereas the Board is an independent institution and pays tax to the government, not taking anything in return.
Meanwhile, PCB chairman Shahryar Khan has yet again stated that he will not resign from his post. He said that he is glad that Shahid Afridi made the decision to quit T20 side’s captaincy on his own, adding that Afridi is still fit to play and he can still represent the side as a player.