'Scared Of Working For Own Country': Ex-Pakistan Star Makes Shocking Remark

Mushtaq Ahmed, the magician behind the leg-break that once bamboozled batsmen worldwide, has opened his heart on the BBC Stumped Podcast—and what he says cuts deeper than any off-cut.

The former Pakistan spinner says he would love to coach his country again. But there is a shadow over the offer: he is "scared of working" for the PCB. Not the cricket—the culture. The lack of respect. The sudden sackings. The job that ends not with a handshake, but with a decision made "here and there."

His words come fresh after the PCB parted ways with Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul—mid-series, in the middle of the England Test campaign, after two back-to-back losses. To Mushtaq, a man who himself wore many PCB hats and even coached Bangladesh's spinners, this felt like a wound, not a decision.

"When you see people getting sacked on a tour, you get worried and scared," he said, softly but firmly. He felt the PCB owed its departing coaches the courtesy of waiting until the tour ended. A simple dignity. Hard to find, it seems.

Still, his love for the game does not waver. If the PCB sorted out that respect, he says, every Pakistani cricketer who could coach—himself included—would serve without hesitation. This, he believes, is the perfect moment to build a confident unit that can truly challenge the opposition.

Meanwhile, the PCB has moved on. Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke have taken over the red-ball reigns, and Misbah-ul-Haq has offered his resignation from the selection panel, leaving even his batting coaching at the NCA in Lahore.

A season of change. A coach waiting in the wings, willing—but wary. Only time will tell whether respect finds its way back to the dressing room.

Source: NDTV Sports