ARACHI, (Reuters) – Pakistan’s new cricket manager Intikhab Alam is determined to steer his under-fire players away from further controversy and restore the tattered image of the national team.
Alam was appointed manager for the upcoming series against South Africa in the UAE by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Thursday, just seven months after he was removed as coach following a shambolic tour of Australia.
“It is not going to be an easy job for me this time but since I have accepted it I take it as a challenge and my priority is to ensure no more damage is done to the image of Pakistan cricket,” the former test captain told Geo Super channel.
Pakistan cricket has been rocked by a series of controversies this year.
After the troubled tour to Australia, where the team was whitewashed in the tests and limited over matches, the board set up an inquiry committee and on its recommendations banned and fined seven players for indiscipline and misconduct on the tour.
The board later removed the bans and reduced fines on five of the players who made it back to the team.
On their tour of England, Pakistan were rocked by allegations of spot-fixing after a newspaper report revealed players had been bribed to bowl pre-determined no-balls in the fourth test against England.
British police questioned test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Wahab Riaz as part of the investigation. Butt, Amir and Asif were suspended from all cricket by ICC.
After the tour Yawar Saeed stepped down as manager.
“The players are not schoolboys and my job would be to ensure they behave like ambassadors of the country and avoid controversies,” he said.
The PCB had given him clear guidelines not to tolerate any indiscipline from players and he would follow that to the hilt, added Alam.
