Pakistan’s recent victory in Sharjah against Sri Lanka will be remembered by the country’s cricket lovers for long times to come. Whereas this emphatic victory gave birth to new Test heroes like Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed, Muhammad Talha and Ahmad Shehzad, the Sharjah Test will also be remembered for the compliments paid by skipper Misbah-ul-Haq to the departing coach Dav Whatmore. The captain removed his helmet after the winning shot and made a symbol of whirling mustaches for his coach, who had been with the team for the most difficult times in the history of Pakistan cricket.

I would like to remind the readers about my article "Dav Whatmore: Expectations & Challenges" published in April 2012. In that article, I cautioned Dav that he was about to enter a jungle of intrigues and politics known as the PCB. I gave him a hint about the resistance that he would face from current and retired cricketers as well as a few hidden hands that worked for cricket lobbies through media and were expert in blowing the things out of proportion in order to achieve their sinister goals.

Coaching the Pakistan cricket team in the presence of hostile local media could never be an easy task. But the issues were even more complex in the case of Dav. With no international cricket team coming to Pakistan and in the presence of a weak and complicated domestic cricket system, finding new talent was an uphill task. Yet many new faces got chances to prove their mettle.

Coaches never mind having underperforming teams, as it is their primary task to convert an average unit into a well-oiled machine that has the ability to throw surprises to the champions. But what bothers them most is the non-professional attitude of the top management.

Dav was unfortunate because he had to fight on multiple fronts and face many challenges. I don’t know if he applied the Gambetta’s formula for coaching success that I mentioned in my previous article for Dav, but I know that it was never easy for him to apply his coaching philosophy in the given situation.

Despite unfavourable situation and limited support from an incapacitated cricket board the last Test against Sri Lanka was a testimony of Dav’s brilliance as a professional coach. He, in due course of time, developed the much-needed positive aggression in the team.

I am by no means in favour of foreign coaches, but Pakistan lacks coaching culture, not only in cricket but in most other sports as well.

The departure of Dav at this crucial stage when Pakistan have started shaping up will leave a big void and will give birth to new intrigues in the unstable system.

Names of Moin Khan, Waqar Younis and Mohsin Hassan Khan are being suggested for the coveted spot of national coach.

Will Zaka Ashraf try to convince Whatmore to continue till the T20 World Cup? Highly unlikely, as no administrator in the PCB has the guts to stand against the self-centered ex-cricketers who consider themselves the godfathers of cricket in the country.

With budding cricketers like Ahmed Shahzad, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Muhammad Talha and Junaid Khan in the line-up, we need mature handling at the top.

Misbah, despite his outstanding performances and superb fitness, is heading towards retirement. In such a situation the national team will require a seasoned coach who is not only technically very strong but is also acceptable to the team.

It is very unfortunate that when we talk of players we look at their individual performances in domestic and international circuits, but while selecting the coach we seldom keep his performance in mind. We hardly discuss the players a coach has produced, nor do we discuss the teams that he has turned into winning combinations.

It is an open secret that there are many great ex-cricketers waiting for employment in the PCB.

In order to close the doors of speculations, the name of the new national coach must be announced sooner rather than later.

I would also suggest that the PCB should announce the names of resource persons to assist the chief coach. There should be a pool of six to eight paid senior cricketers with expertise in batting, bowling, wicket-keeping and fielding.

These resource persons can be invited on short specialised training camps to assist the national chief coach. This would help the coach impart specialised training and would also provide the ex-cricket legends an opportunity to transfer their special skills to new cricketers.

I hope the PCB top management will show prudence in selecting the new coach at this critical juncture and personal likes and dislikes will not be the criteria.