LAHORE: Pakistan team’s head coach Waqar Younis on Tuesday begged forgiveness from the nation for the disastrous show of the greenshirts in the ongoing World T20 but added that resignation by any individual won’t solve the many problems of Pakistan cricket.

“I place my hands together and beg forgiveness from the nation. If my leaving makes things better, then I would do it without delay,” Waqar told a news conference ahead of appearing before a fact-finding committee, appointed by the PCB, to explain his position.

“I apologise to the entire nation, to the media and to those who raised slogans against us at the airport and those taking care of us at the NCA, for our dismal performance in the World Twenty20 as well as in the Asia Cup T20.

“Our performance should not have been at such a poor level and should have been far better than it really was,” he maintained.

Waqar said rumours had it that some individuals including the chairman PCB, the head coach and others were being sacked but it was not the remedy for the many ills plaguing Pakistan cricket. “I will not mind if I am sacked but sacking some individuals is not the solution as the problems in our cricket are deep-rooted and very serious efforts are required in this regard,” Waqar remarked.

“In the past, we have removed coaches like Geoff Lawson, Whatmore and, unfortunately, Bob Woolmer died during his assignment but the real problems still exist,” argued Waqar.

He said Pakistan was not playing cricket at home which was one of the major factors behind the decline of the game, adding that though any headway in bringing international events to Pakistan was not possible at the moment, efforts must be made to make the domestic structure stronger and bringing all stadiums at par with the international standards.

“I remember that South Africa staged a comeback in international cricket after facing a long 22-year ban but in their very first appearance in the 1992 World Cup they made it to the last four.

“And when Pakistan toured South Africa after that World cCup there was no sign that the country had been facing international ban as their stadiums were quite perfect to meet international standard since the South Africans remained fully focused on their domestic structure,” recalled Waqar.

Asked what were the reasons behind contrasting performances of the national team in Test and shorter version of the game, Waqar said the point is worth the discussion. However, he quickly added: “I am not here to blame any individual but our team has been performing well in Test cricket but, unfortunately, the same is not the case in T20 and ODI cricket.”

When asked many star players had failed to perform in the team, the head coach said it was believed in Pakistan that cricket is the game of stars but the fact is that it is a game for the heroes.

“Cricket is played by heroes who don’t focus on anything else except the game, while stars only appear in advertisements. So, we must not mix up the two things,” said Waqar.

Talking about his association with the PCB, the head coach said: “My future should not be discussed as it is not an issue because Pakistan cricket is not linked with me. “Coaches come and go,” remarked Waqar while stating that his resignation won’t help Pakistan cricket which needed eradication of basic flaws.

When asked if he realised he was appearing before a committee of non-technocrats, the head coach first hesitated before replying that he was not here to do politics.

He also dispelled the impression that there were groupings in the national outfit, stating that neither were the players capable enough to play competitive cricket nor in a position to get involved in groupings.

Asked if he would continue with the same players, Waqar said first let him appear before the committee.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2016