Abbas defends Waqar appointment ahead of Mohsin

Principal advisor Zaheer Abbas has defended the Pakistan Cricket Board's decision to appoint former fast bowler Waqar Younis, rather than erstwhile batsman Mohsin Khan, as head coach.

Principal advisor Zaheer Abbas has defended the Pakistan Cricket Board's decision to appoint former fast bowler Waqar Younis, rather than erstwhile batsman Mohsin Khan, as head coach.

Khan recently heavily criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board after being overlooked for the coveted position.

He was among the candidates to succeed Australian Dav Whatmore, whose contract was not renewed earlier this year. Erstwhile fast bowler Waqar Younis secured the appointment on Tuesday, though.

"The procedure is that we usually interview candidates about whom we have no or little information. But Mohsin's case was different – he is quite familiar to us and we are aware of his strengths and weaknesses," said Abbas.

The 42-year-old Younis served as bowling coach in 2006 and 2007 and held the head coach position in 2010 and 2011.

Younis' opening assignment will bring a one-off Twenty20 International, three ODIs and two Tests against the Australia in the United Arab Emirates between 3 October and 1 November.

The 2015 World Cup campaign in Australasia, where Pakistan have been pooled with India, West Indies, Zimbabwe, UAE, South Africa and Ireland, is also high on the agenda.

"For the position of head coach we took a lot of other factors into account. We looked at an applicant's ability to be inclusive and take players along with him. After reviewing all seven applications on merit, we recommended Waqar," added PCB director of domestic cricket Intikhab Alam

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