Waqar apologises for Pakistan's dismal performance in WT20

LAHORE: Embattled head coach of the Pakistan cricket team, Waqar Younis, apologized to the nation on Tuesday for the team's disappointing performance in the World Twenty20 tournament in India.

"Literally, I clasp my hands and beg for forgiveness. The way we performed...it should not have been like this," he said, speaking to reporters in Lahore today.

Waqar said that sacking players or officials will not improve things for Pakistan cricket. “Cosmetic surgery will not solve things. We will have to open our eyes, solve issues, remove politics (from the system),” he said.

He said that he had performed his duties as Pakistan coach honestly, and that if he is held responsible he would step down as coach.

“If they accuse me, send me home, no issues. I'll go home. If the problem will be resolved by sacking me, then Bismillah! Don't do it tomorrow, do it today!” he said, but added that is was unfair to blame any single person for the team's poor performance.

The former Pakistan fast-bowler said that Pakistan cricket needs heroes, not stars.

“Cricket is a game of heroes, not stars. The way we mix up our stars and heroes, I think we will also have to clear that. Because it hurts, as I said, we don't need stars, we need heroes. You will have to dig deep to find where and who our heroes are,” he said.

The Pakistan coach denied reports that there were ‘groupings’ in the Pakistani squad that played the WT20 tournament.

“Somebody has given the wrong impression that there are groupings in the team. There are no politics. We are performing so poorly that we are not even capable of groupings,” he said.

“There are no politics in the team. The truth is we performed very poorly, so there is no question of groupings,” he said.

When asked why the level of cricket in Pakistan had nosedived, he said: “This is what we have to find out why Pakistan cricket has gone down. Whether Waqar is responsible for it, or if it is somebody else…I won't take anyone's name. It is very important to find out.”

He held the lack of quality domestic cricket for the weakening foundations of the sport in the country

“It’s not like our cricketing foundations were never strong. They were very strong. But we have not had cricket in Pakistan for the past six seven years. When there is no cricket at home, then the foundations go weak,” he said.

He said that he would not share his report to the PCB fact-finding committee with the media as it was an 'in-house matter'

PCB is my home and I will not take domestic matters outside, he said. “I will put everything in front of the fact-finding committee,” he said.

He left it up to the higher-ups of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to determine the reasons of the national cricket team's lackluster performance.