KARACHI, Nov 10: Fast bowling legend and former national coach Waqar Younis has possibly emerged as the frontrunner to replace embattled Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore once the Australian’s two-year contract ends next February.

According to insiders in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Waqar — under those charge Pakistan reached the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup — had a detailed one-to-one meeting with Najam Sethi, chief of the board’s Interim Management Committee, during the fourth One-day International which Pakistan lost in Abu Dhabi late on Friday to hand South Africa their seventh straight bilateral limited-overs series against them.

Sethi has publicly said that Whatmore, who was appointed head coach in March 2012, would get no extension the moment his contract expires because in Pakistan cricket culture there is no scope of having a foreign coach.

“Our problem with foreign coaches is obvious. [Our] players are not that well educated when it comes to speaking English. So there is a lot of problems in communicating with each other because they don’t understand fully,” Sethi was quoted as saying as a citation to what Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal had expressed openly during a TV talk show before the series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sethi further said though Whatmore, who had successful spells with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the past, had done a ‘decent’ job but the PCB have to take a serious note of the Pakistan’s inconsistent track record under the ex-Australian Test batsman.

“Personally speaking, I think he [Whatmore] has done a decent job but his contract expires in February. In fact, I think Whatmore himself will be looking at it as would we because I won’t deny there is tremendous pressure [on the cricket board] to bring in a home-bred coach for the national team,” Sethi commented.

During Whatmore’s tenure, thus far, Pakistan have won just two of 10 Tests while losing two of the four series to Sri Lanka (1-0) and South Africa (3-0) while drawing 1-1 against Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Pakistan, however, performed better in one-dayers during this period and won a three-match series in India under a year ago against the current world champions. Of the remaining eight bilateral series beginning from June 2012, Pakistan have lost to Sri Lanka (2-1 in Sri Lanka), Australia (2-1 in the UAE), South Africa (3-2 in South Africa) and the ongoing series against the Proteas in the UAE. Their four series victories have come against the likes of Scotland, Ireland, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

They won 18 of the 38 One-day Internationals, lost 17 and two — against Ireland and West Indies — ended in a tie.

And although Pakistan won the Asia Cup in March last year in what was Whatmore’s maiden assignment in a green shirt, many would claim that Bangladesh played a great game in Dhaka during the final which Misbah-ul-Haq’s men won by just two runs.

Pakistan were knocked out of the Champions Trophy’s last edition held this year in England (and Wales) when they lost all three group fixtures with batting yet again letting them down horribly.

Whatmore, meanwhile, guided Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2012 World Twenty20 in the country of his birth Sri Lanka. But Pakistan’s repeated batting failures are the reasons the detractors claim that Whatmore has failed to address and at no time has wielded his authority as a high-profile coach.

The Sydney-based Waqar, who turns 42 on Nov 16, had previously coached the senior national side with success from March 2010 until September 2011 — a tumultuous period for Pakistan cricket during which the notorious spot-fixing emerged on the England tour — when he chose to call quits after falling out with the then one-day and Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi.

Former Pakistan captain Waqar, a respected cricket analyst who is currently in the UAE as a TV broadcaster, has expressed his desire to take up the coaching role again after watching the performances of Pakistan team alarmingly dwindle day by day, according to sources.

Waqar, who also coached Ruhuna Royals in the inaugural Sri Lankan Premier League, was a bowling consultant with Hyderabad Sunrisers during the Indian Premier League earlier this year after talks with Cricket Australia failed in July 2012 to become as the successor to Craig McDermott as Australia’s bowling coach.

Even when Waqar, who served as the bowling coach of the national team, quit as Pakistan coach two years back he had emphasised in clear words that whoever was brought in to succeed him should be a local man.

Former Test batsman Mohsin Khan, the then chief selector, was then asked to fill in as an interim coach until the new appointment was made by the Zaka Ashraf-led PCB on the recommendation of a three-member hiring committee comprising Intikhab Alam, Zaheer Abbas and Naushad Ali.

Mohsin, to his credit, became an instant success as he guided Pakistan to series wins over Sri Lanka, Bangladesh before England, then the world’s top-ranked Test side, suffered a 3-0 humiliation in the UAE in early 2012. But despite those achievements, Mohsin was asked to go home as PCB welcomed Whatmore despite whispers of reservation from the players. The results now are obvious for everyone to judge.