Mudassar Nazar appointed Pakistan coach

K J M Varma in Islamabad

After a series of experiments with makeshift coaches for its national cricket team, Pakistan on Tuesday appointed former cricketer Mudassar Nazar to the post on a "long term" basis.

Mudassar was reported to have been appointed till the next World Cup in 2003, but Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, who announced the appointment, did not clarify that.

"You can say he is a long-term coach for prudence sake, though we will appoint him on a series-to-series basis," Zia said.

Zia said PCB did not want to name a coach on a long term basis and then replace him midway. "I do not want to repeat it," he said, referring to the incomplete tenures of the recent coaches.

The PCB previously tried former Australian coach Darryl Foster and his South African counterpart Richard Pybus.

"I like Mudassar, his cricketing knowledge and his expertise," he said. "I think he will deliver the goods."

Mail Cricket Editor