Mushtaq Ahmed has a message for the Pakistan Cricket Board- he’s ready to come home and coach but only if he can trust that he won’t be thrown under the bus the moment things go wrong. The former leg-spinner, currently working as Bangladesh’s spin-bowling coach, opened up about his hesitation during an appearance on a podcast on September 6.
Mushtaq Ahmed, who has served the PCB in various roles before, admitted that he’d jump at the chance to coach Pakistan again, especially given the current situation. But he was honest about his fear – working for his own board can be unsettling when coaches aren’t given the respect or security they deserve and get sacked over emotional, knee-jerk decisions rather than fair judgment. He said that watching people get axed mid-tour makes anyone in his position nervous about taking the job.
This comes at a rough time for Pakistan cricket. The board’s already shaky reputation took another hit recently when seven players were sent home and two coaches were sacked following defeats in the first two Tests of a three-match series against England. Seven replacement players were brought in, five of them uncapped, and the white-ball coaching staff was handed charge of the final Test.
Mushtaq Ahmed said watching the two coaches let go in the middle of a series left him genuinely hurt as a former cricketer himself. He felt the board should have at least had the basic courtesy to wait until the series had finished before making that call.
He believes that if the PCB can fix this pattern of impulsive decision-making, every Pakistani cricketer currently coaching elsewhere, not just him, would be eager to return and serve the country. For Mushtaq Ahmed, now feels like the right moment to take on that challenge: helping players rediscover their best form, build confidence at the international level and shape a team capable of genuinely competing with strong opposition sides.
Mushtaq Ahmed’s history with the national team goes back years, he first worked as a bowling consultant between 2014 and 2016, then returned in 2020 as the official spin-bowling coach, a role he held until 2022.
He certainly made sense, agree?
