Mohammad Wasim, a former cricketer from Pakistan, has disclosed about his experiences while being the chief selector of the team in particular with respect to dealing with former all-format captain Babar Azam. According to Wasim who was the head coach of men’s cricket team of Pakistan between December 2020 and December 2022; Babar was “so headstrong that he would always feel bad” every time changes were made to the squad by a selection committee. The ex-player also stated that it had been necessary for him to make some interventions through which Babar would come to accept these modifications in most cases.
“He would resist any change proposed by me without hesitation while at times, I had no choice but crossing my limits just to convince him on certain decisions,” quotes Wasim in PakPassion.
After posting 0 and 2 respectively during their first test match against Bangladesh, Babar managed to score 31 runs during the first innings of the ongoing second Test match at Rawalpindi.
In the 2nd day, the opposition captain Najmul Hossain Shanto of Bangladesh put to bat Pakistan after a heavy rain washed away the play of day one.
Half-centuries were scored by Saim Ayub, the captain Shan Masood and Salman Ali Agha; Pakistan was however bowled out for 274 runs.
In the meantime, Wasim is also serving as the head coach of Pakistan women’s team.
Assistant coach and spin-bowling coach are respectively appointed to former Pakistan bowlers Junaid Khan and Abdur Rehman alongside Wasim who is not supposed to have any batting coach because he will take on that role.
These appointments are only for the duration of the Asia Cup, as indicated in a PCB statement, and the possibility of extensions beyond that tournament remains inconclusive. This concentration on a short-term basis suits the urgent needs of the team preparing for an important regional competition.
His coaching credits with Northern, a franchise in Pakistan’s domestic set-up are what primarily form Wasim’s coaching bonafides. It was under his watch effort that Northern featured in two successive runners-up in revised Quaid-e-Azam Trophy brought about during the time of Imran Khan, who was the then prime minister and PCB patron.
Wasim had an emphasis on developing youth talent, culminating in winning the National T20 Cup during the 2019-20 season under him. Consequently, he became head selector for men’s national squad until December 2022 due to his brilliant training skills.
