"Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Waqar Younis are zero as coaches" - Mohammad Asif

Former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif questioned the credentials of the national team's current coaching staff comprising Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Waqar Younis. He is the latest among several Pakistan cricketers to hit out at the trio for the team's underwhelming performances.

Mohammad Asif spoke at length about his international career and the current state of Pakistan cricket during an interaction with Kamran Akmal on the latter's YouTube channel.

Akmal asked Mohammad Asif if Waqar Younis had helped in his growth as a coach, or whether he improved by bowling alongside Shoaib Akhtar. The former pacer responded that Akhtar's presence helped him more although the duo employed different methods for dismissing batsmen.

Mohammad Asif further added that the current set of Pakistan coaches - Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Waqar Younis - are not good enough for the job, though they were great players during their time.

"No doubt Shoaib bhai used to bowl fast and my attempt was to pitch the ball up to get the batsmen out. As a coach, if you ask me Waqar Younis is zero. He was great as a player. I have respect for him as a player. The three guys who are associated to the team currently - Younis bhai was a big player but he does not have any knowledge as a coach. Misbah is totally zero, as a player he was okay," said Asif

When asked how he could judge Younis Khan though he wasn't a batsman himself, Asif replied his opinion was based on coaching videos he had seen on the Pakistan Cricket Board website. But he reiterated that he didn't doubt the trio's prowess as players.

"I have seen a couple of videos on the PCB website. Even a neighbourhood kid will tell you that he is telling the wrong thing. I am not talking about his credibility as a player. He has scored 10000 runs as a player, Misbah has also scored runs," observed Mohammad Asif

Misbah undone all the progress we made under Mickey and waqar in its third stint as a bowling coach, actually make bowling attack worse. https://t.co/1vMHfFleyu

— A.I💤 (@syedali1mran) December 28, 2020

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"You have to think about Pakistan" - Mohammad Asif

Mohammad Asif feels Mohammad Amir has not been treated fairly

Mohammad Asif believes Waqar could have got the best out of Mohammad Amir in the shorter formats of the game if the latter was not interested in playing Test cricket.

"Waqar Younis no doubt was a great bowler. He has still kept the mentality of 1990s that this guy has done something wrong and he should be dropped. This is not how it should be, there are small-small things like the entire team became against Amir. Why is that the case? They can use him in T20Is and ODIs, if he has taken retirement from Test matches," said Asif

According to Asif, Pakistan coaches need to look at things from a broader perspective in the interests of the country rather than satisfying their own egos.

"You have to think about Pakistan and not about your own cricket. If you are the coach, you should have a big vision. They can tell him it's fine if he has retired from Test cricket and they can use the new players in Tests. They could have still got work done from him but they have let him go because of their ego," concluded Asif

The current Pakistan coaching setup has received flak from various quarters after Mohammad Amir announced his retirement from international cricket. The left-arm pacer has even gone on to say that he is willing to reconsider his retirement decision but not under the current set of coaches.

"Mohammad Amir's Retirement will have a negative impact on Pakistan Cricket and its image." - Inzamam Ul Haq

— CricketMAN2 (@man4_cricket) December 25, 2020