Banned for life for match-fixing, Salim Malik wants to coach Pakistan cricket team

Karachi: Pakistan's former captain Salim Malik, who was banned for life for match-fixing, said he was keen to apply for the position of head coach of the national cricket team. The current status of Malik's life ban remains unclear even though a court declared the ban imposed on him in 2000 as illegal. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board is yet to officially announce that he is no longer serving the ban. The ban was recommended on Malik by the Justice Malik Qayyum inquiry commission which probed into allegations of match-fixing in the Pakistan team. "I have not been allowed to get involved in any cricket despite the court orders. I was keen to apply for the post of head coach but have changed my mind now," the former batsman said. "I get a feeling the PCB is more interested in appointing a foreign coach so it is no use wasting my energy. But I still want to come forward and work in club and domestic cricket," Malik said. He said the PCB had experimented before with foreign coaches and it was not successful. "The primary reason for this is communication and language problems and there is also a cultural barrier between our players and a foreign coach who can't understand our cricket culture," he added. Malik said he saw the role of a coach more as a mentor, someone who the players looked up to rather than from any technical aspect. Malik, 53, played 103 Tests and 283 one-day internationals before he was banned from all cricket. Last year the PCB stopped him from holding a charity match at the Gaddafi stadium in aid of a former umpire although members of the Pakistan team had reached Lahore to play in the fixture for which the board initially granted permission. He also called for only former top cricketers to be given the responsibility of running the cricket board. "The post of PCB chairman should only be given to a former Test cricketer and no one else because only he can understand the requirements of this position," he added. Malik also backed the appointment of former Test captain Inzamam-ul-Haq as chief selector. "Knowing Inzamam he will want to work independently as a chief selector and will not take dictation from the board officials as has happened in the past," he noted. "In recent times Pakistan squads have been altered many times on the interference and insistence of board officials and because the chief selector was weak he took no stand." Malik advised Inzamam to not consult too many people while finalising squads and do what he felt was best for Pakistan cricket. "The involvement of too many people leads to confusion and everyone has his own interests and angle."