KARACHI: As the search for Pakistan's batting coach continues, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said that it will not be hiring a batting coach until after the national team's tour of India, according to reports in the media.

Pakistan will tour India without a batting coach and the appointment will be made before the tour to South Africa in January.

Pakistan’s recent batting failures at the World Twenty20 tournament have forced the country’s cricket board to search for a full-time batting coach.

"The board will not be sending a batting coach to India and it has been decided to make the appointment for the South Africa tour that begins in the third week of January," a source was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India (PTI).

"The selection process for a batting coach is going to take time because we have received CVs of some very strong candidates even from abroad and within the country," the source added.

Several former Pakistan players such as Zaheer Abbas, Saleem Malik and Inzamam ul Haq have offered their services as batting coach. However, the source dismissed their eligiblity for the post, saying they did not have the required experience.

"Inzamam, Zaheer and Salim Malik might be greats but they are not qualified coaches," the source said.

However, Nadeem Sarwar, the media manager of the PCB, said while talking to Dawn.com that no decision had been taken about when the appointment of the batting coach will be finalised.

Dav Whatmore is currently the head coach of Pakistan with Mohammad Akram as the bowling coach.

Meanwhile, PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf is interested in bringing former fast bowler Waqar Younis to the national cricket setup and get him involved with the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

"Informal discussions have been held on this subject when Waqar recently came down to Lahore to attend a meeting on how to improve domestic cricket and the productivity of the National Cricket Academy," a source said.

"The chairman is impressed by Waqar's background as a former player, captain and coach and feels he can contribute a lot to the efforts to modernise and introduce specialisation in Pakistan cricket at the domestic level."