LAHORE: Javed Miandad has said he will consider becoming the batting coach of Pakistan, after their tour of the West Indies is completed.
Miandad, however, will not travel with the team to the West Indies, but will work with the batsmen before their departure, as he did for Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand last year.
“I had detailed meetings with Mr. [Ijaz] Butt and [Shahid] Afridi, but I told them that I could not travel with the team to the West Indies,” said Miandad. “I think the tour of West Indies is not a tough one. After this tour I might consider taking up the [batting] coaching assignment.”
It was on the request of Pakistan captain Afridi and chairman of the Pakistan board Butt that Miandad, who has had three stints as Pakistan head coach, agreed to work with the team’s batsmen before the upcoming tour. The tour begins on April 18, and comprises a one-off Twenty20 game, five one-dayers and three Tests. The tour ends on May 24, after which Pakistan will travel to Ireland to play a one-day series.
As far as what his role would be as batting coach, if he were to take the job full-time, Miandad said it would be mostly restricted to advising batsmen on pitches and bowlers rather than looking to make drastic changes to their techniques.
“I believe that once a batsman is selected for the national team you can’t change his technique,” he said. “You can only teach him the finer points of the game, like how to handle various bowlers on different pitches.”
