Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq [Images] on Monday gave his backing for Dav Whatmore to be appointed coach of the national team.

"He has a lot of experience and a strong coaching background like Bob [Woolmer] did. He appears most likely to be selected as coach," Inzamam said.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has short-listed three Australians -- Whatmore, Geoff Lawson and Richard Done -- for the coaching position which fell vacant after the untimely death of Woolmer during the World Cup in March.

All three candidates have visited Pakistan and have been interviewed by the board. They also met national team players last week.

Inzamam retired from one-day internationals and stepped down as captain after Pakistan suffered a shock defeat by Ireland and made an early exit from the World Cup.

He said Whatmore has a lot of experience working in the cricket set-up in the region.

"He has coached Sri Lanka [Images] and Bangladesh and produced good results. So I think he is the one the board will eventually select," Inzamam said.

"The Pakistani players need an experienced and strong coach like Woolmer to guide them and get the best performances out of them. I have always said our team needs a qualified coach."

Inzamam, who has 119 Tests and 378 one-day appearances to his credit, is still keen to play Test cricket.

Whatmore, 53, ended a contract with Bangladesh on May 31 after guiding them to the second round of the World Cup. His finest moment came in 1996 when Sri Lanka won the World Cup final against Australia in Lahore [Images].