BBC SPORT | Cricket | Pakistan axe coach

Pakistan have sacked coach Mudassar Nazar ahead of their Test series against Australia, after a poor start to the season.

And the injured Yousuf Youhana is the latest in a group of established players to be ruled out of the three-match encounter.

Following their 2-1 one-day series victory in Australia in June, Pakistan lost three of four games in the Morocco Cup and were comprehensively beaten twice by Australia in Nairobi.

I will have to think hard if I am offered the job again

Mudassar Nazar

And the team have been all but eliminated from the ICC Champions Trophy tournament after their loss to Sri Lanka in the opening match.

The Test series begins on 3 October in Colombo, and the teams will move to Sharjah for the remaining two matches.

Waqar Younis has been re-appointed as captain, but Mudassar agreed to step down after being summoned home from Sri Lanka by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

"I am not at all disappointed because my contract was performance-related," he said after the announcement.

Feature: Pakistan go from crisis to crisis

Youhana was ruled out after a scan on his injured shoulder, despite being cleared by doctors just a week ago to rejoin the team in Sri Lanka.

Pakistan are already without vice-captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who is suffering a heel injury.

And veterans Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar and Rashid Latif have all been left out of the squad to face Steve Waugh's men.

But Mudassar denied reports of arguments between team-mates.

Mudassar Nazar
Mudassar's sacking is the sixth in five years

"There is no rift in the team; the only problem I see is that players feel burn-out," he added.

"If Pakistan wants to win the World Cup senior players should be given proper rest."

South African-based Englishman Richard Pybus will visit Pakistan later this week and is likely to take over for a third spell in charge, the PCB announced.

Pybus stepped down after last year's tour to England and later rejected an offer to do the job until after the 2003 World Cup.

This is the sixth occasion in the last five years that a Pakistani coach has been given his marching orders.

Haroon Rasheed was sacked in 1998 and Javed Miandad and Intikhab Alam have both held the post on two occasions.


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