Mudassar Nazar played 76 Tests and 122 ODIs for Pakistan between 1976 and 1989, scoring almost 7,000 runs and taking 175 wickets.
An accumulator of runs, his best performances came at home, where he scored eight of his ten Test centuries, half of which were scored against India. Providing stability at the top of the batting order, Nazar averaged 54 in matches won by Pakistan, emphasising his importance to the side during that time, which included more illustrious contemporaries including the likes of Mohsin Khan, Javed Miandad and Zaheer Abbas.
Nazar has continued his association with cricket after retirement. He was appointed coach of Kenya in 2005, where he was also Director of Cricket and went on to become Director of Game Development in Pakistan, where he introduced twelve Regional Academies as well as the National Academy. He is currently the Head Coach at the the ICC Global Cricket Academy, specialising in batting and development programmes.
In exclusive remarks to PakPassion.net, Mudassar spoke about the progress of Dav Whatmore as coach , the role of Mohammad Hafeez and the issue of a batting coach for Pakistan.
by Amir Husain (22nd July 2013)
PakPassion.net: What are your thoughts on Umar Akmal playing as a wicketkeeper-batsman in ODIs and T20s?
Mudassar Nazar: Well firstly I didn?t see too much wrong with his keeping. The most difficult part of keeping is keeping against spin bowlers and he looked as good as both his brothers or any of the other guys who have stepped in over the last 10 years. Ever since the departure of Moin and Rashid we have been struggling for a keeper. We keep forgetting Kamran Akmal is a batsman-wicketkeeper, not a wicketkeeper-batsman so nothing changes with the youngest of the three Akmal brothers coming in. In one-day cricket that?s what you need, you need batting in the middle order. We have too many players who take their time and they don?t get on with the game whereas Umar Akmal has that ability to rush things in the middle of the innings, with some big hits and rotation of strike and good running between the wickets. So you need the energy there and I don?t think that?s a bad thing getting him to keep wicket in one-day cricket.
In Tests however, he needs to prove himself as a Test batsman once again. He had a great start but he?s lost out in the middle. And on top of that, keeping for a couple of days on the trot is something he has never done so that?s a different thing altogether. But in one-day cricket and in T20Is I don't mind him keeping for Pakistan.
PakPassion.net: Moving on to something that's receiving a lot of attention from the fans - Misbah ul Haq. As a captain and as a batsman, do you feel Misbah is the person who can lead Pakistan going into the 2015 World Cup? What are your views on that?
Mudassar Nazar: Certainly not for 2015. It's quite a long, long way away even though Misbah has kept himself quite fit. It's an issue with the current Pakistan batting lineup - it suits Misbah and the way he bats. Whether we are 50/0 or 50/5 - normally what it is these days, Misbah always plays in the same way. He would always leave it up to the last few overs to up the tempo. At the moment, that's suitable for Pakistan. However, if you find two good openers and a good number three and if the three come off and you're 150 for 1 in 25 overs and Misbah comes in then you will lose all that initiative.
At the moment, because you're 30/2 or 30/3, he drops an anchor and it's suitable for him and suitable for the team as well. That's the need of the team at the moment. In the long run, would it be? When you go into a one-day game, you go in with the intention of scoring 300+ to put the game away from the opposition. That's not the case when he comes in to bat. At the moment, it's all about survival. It suits him and suits the Pakistan team at the moment. To win the World Cup, you need to do a bit more than that. You need to dominate right from the first ball. We've had a few hot heads in this team over the last 10 years. Misbah is very calm and his influence has been fantastic over this team. Over the last few years, he has done very well for Pakistan. He's fitted in really well. If that is the need of the hours, that's fine, but I don't think you can win a World Cup like that.
PakPassion.net: That's interesting that you mentioned a stable opening partnership and a good number 3. At the moment, we've got Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, and Mohammad Hafeez as the top three with Hafeez coming under a lot of stress here and not doing too well. Although, he bats at the number three position, he seems to be played in the team as a bowler alone. What are your views on that?
Mudassar Nazar: We have to determine what he is. I look at Abdul Razzaq and Pakistan lost him because they never could find a role for him. In the three or four years of his career when he played for Pakistan, he was neither a batsmen nor a bowler. He's not a batsman if he's batting at number 9 and he's certainly not a bowler if he's not bowling in the first five. If you don't come in as a fast bowler, you don't bowl in the first three and you're rarely needed to bowl the last few, which was not his strength because he always bowled length balls and not yorkers - then what is your role? He lost his way because the captain had no confidence in him although, at one time he was world's best all-rounder in one-day cricket, but they lost him because they couldn't find him an identity.
Hafeez, by default we are sending him at number three. He's not our best batsman. Your best batsmen goes in at number three. Your best batsmen is very good technically and also gets on with the game. Hafeez gets on with the game but technically he's not that well equipped. Ever since he's lost his opening spot, he's been struggling at number three. He's not the answer. He's not a Younis Khan or a Mohammad Yousuf. He's a very good player, but he's not as good as those two guys. Why are we shifting him to play at number three? I think they dropped a clanger in the Champions Trophy by dropping Younis Khan.
Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq up to the Champions Trophy were the only two batsmen in the Pakistan team who could play in tough conditions as they did in South Africa where the conditions were similar. In England, you were always going to find tough conditions. You always want your best technically equipped batsmen to go to England in the 50-overs format because it's a very long game, especially if you lose a couple of early wickets.
Younis was thrown out although, I admit Younis hasn't done all that great in one-day cricket in the recent past, but in England, its a case of horses for courses - you needed to bring him for the Champions Trophy. I was afraid they were going to drop him [Younis] and that would have had dire consequences and that's exactly what happened. Hafeez couldn't replace Younis Khan for the Champions Trophy. He could replace him in the West Indies or some other place where the ball doesn't deviate much and batsmen aren't challenged that much. Certainly in England, we needed Younis Khan. As for Hafeez - he has to prove himself. He has too many bad times as a top order batsmen and he couldn't click, but we need to remedy that somehow. At the moment, because of his bowling, he gets into the team. However, an all-rounder should get into the team by virtue of either bowling or batting - that's the definition of a decent and proper all-rounder. Does Hafeez fall into that category? At the moment, he's in between. He's been around for well over ten years, so it's about time he took responsibility and scored runs at the top consistently at number 1 or number 3.
PakPassion.net: There?s another issue of the batting coach, that?s being talked about. Would Inzamam-ul-Haq be your choice? Who else would you choose?
Mudassar Nazar: Why not Inzamam? If he?s going to put his heart and soul into the job, then why not? I?m all for it, depending on if Inzi can give his time to Pakistan cricket. To be honest, those guys, who recommended and selected the Australian guy [Trent Woodhill] for batting coach should be taken to task. If people like Zaheer Abbas and Inzamam apply for the job, as Pakistan?s batting coach, then they should have thought about that. How can you compare Woodhill with these guys? It?s beyond me!
He?s gone now. It was good for his CV. It was quick, and he?s gone. I can?t fathom or comprehend who made that decision. It was a terrible decision. Obviously this team needs a batting coach. If the team has got a bowling coach and a very formidable bowling lineup and you still feel the need for a bowling coach then there is all the more reason that we should have a batting coach! The batting has been struggling for the past 4 to 6 years.
PakPassion.net: In terms of a scorecard, how would you rate Dav Whatmore right now? What do you see as his future with Pakistan cricket? Would you expect the PCB to extend his contract and tenure?
Mudassar Nazar: We started off really well but the team?s fortunes have taken a turn for the worse and obviously the coach lives by the team?s performance. The team?s performance hasn?t been that great, but you can?t lay the blame solely on Dav Whatmore.
First of all, it?s a very difficult thing to manage the Pakistan cricket team. On top of that, the Pakistan cricket team is playing away from home. You have a tough situation, which many coaches around the world would find very tough. He?s an experienced coach. Whether Pakistan should or shouldn?t renew his contract is moot but looking at the history of the Pakistan Cricket Board, I don?t think that they will renew it. It?s never been done in the past. If the team?s faith is good and he?s useful for the team, then by all means. I don?t buy that only Pakistanis should coach the Pakistan cricket team. All of our cricketers play all over the world with other teams and organizations as well as take part in county cricket and league cricket. It?s fine for our former players to go and do that, but when somebody else comes into our yard, we all start to make aggravation. I don?t think that?s right.
PakPassion.net: Many thanks for your time
Mudassar Nazar: Thank You
