Former Pakistan player and coach Sikandar Bakht has made shocking revelations, exposing how some Pakistani players have different attitudes towards local coaches as compared to foreign ones. Bakht, a former national selector, at one point in his career was also member of Pakistan's coaching staff. He worked as a support staff for the Pakistan cricket team between 2000 and 2003. The veteran criticized Pakistani players for not respecting coaches of Pakistan origin.
Bakht, who played 26 Tests and 27 ODIs for Pakistan, talked about some unpleasant encounters with senior members of the team. In another shocking revelation, Bakht claimed he knows a former Pak cricketer who prays every day that he does not have to work for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in any role.
"I had once tried to tell a Pakistan player when I was involved with the Pakistan team. He said, 'You have just played 26 Tests for Pakistan. I have played 40. You are trying to teach me? I am saying this on oath'. This is the approach of players. You think a cricketer can go and say something to Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan? The players behave well with foreign coaches. Take Mickey Arthur, he hasn't played a single international game but he is good with man management. Because he's a foreigner, they are scared of him," Sikandar Bakht said in an interaction with Geo News.
"We have had a lot of coaches from Pakistan. Be it Javed Miandad, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mohammad Yousuf – but they couldn't handle. I will take an example of a player without taking his name, who works with me on Geo. He told me that he prays every day that he is not given any role with PCB. There are so many difficulties and pressure there that I pray in every Namaz that I don't be given a job with PCB," he added.