Pakistan manager summoned back to Lahore
Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed has left Sri Lanka amidst unconfirmed rumours that he has been sacked
CricInfo
25-Sep-2002
Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed has left Sri Lanka amidst unconfirmed
rumours that he has been sacked.
The 72-year-old manager checked out of the team hotel on Tuesday after
reportedly being summoned back to Lahore.
The PCB refused to confirm the sacking on Tuesday. Khalid Butt, the PCB's
media manager, was quoted by the Dawn newspaper as saying: "I have no
knowledge about Yawar Saeed's removal as Pakistan team manager. As far as I
know, there is no official announcement forthcoming from the cricket board."
Saeed, who had been appointed up until the 2003 World Cup, appears to be the
second casualty following Pakistan's recent poor form. Coach Mudassar Nazar
was released earlier this month.
Former manager Brigadier Khawaja Muhammad Nasir is tipped to replace Saeed.
Nazir has filled the post on a number of occasions after being first
appointed in 1984.
Pakistan are due to play three Test matches against Australia after the
ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, the first of which will be played at Colombo.
The final two games will be played at Sharjah.
They will be anxious to reverse a poor run that has seen them struggle in
tri-series at Tangiers and Nairobi in August. They also failed during the
ICC Champions Trophy, losing to Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the tournament
curtain raiser.
However, the chances of Pakistan defeating the powerful Australians look
slim after injuries to key batsmen Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Wasim
Akram and Saeed Anwar have both made themselves unavailable for the series.
South Africa-based Englishman Richard Pybus, Mudassar's successor as coach,
left for Colombo via Dubai Tuesday night along with six players named in the
Test squad Saturday.