Whatmore 'not concerned' by Pak failure to win Tests

Playing down Pakistan's inability to win any Test matches since he took over, coach Dav Whatmore has said that losing four Tests out of six in the last 12 months was 'not a concern'.

According to The Dawn, compared to the time when Pakistan used to lose just a single Test match in a span of 15 months, they had to bow down to the scandal of spot-fixing, although they managed to hold at bay South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and England before Whatmore came along.

However, the report added, the opposition grew strong and the depressing performance in South Africa showed the players that they have descended too steeply with just nine Tests in the last 17 months in stark comparison to the 18 months before that when Pakistan played 18 Tests.

However, Whatmore does not seem to be concerned by the depressing details, saying that losing both Test series in Sri Lanka and South Africa is not a real worry for the team as the Pakistan Test squad is the most settled of all three formats, adding that the team had played a decent series in Sri Lanka.

Blaming the Decision Review System (DRS) and the absence of an umpire at Galle in the first Test against the Proteas as responsible for their show, Whatmore, however, admitted that the result against South Africa was not an easy pill to swallow, adding that although they knew that the South Africans were strong, they still had a little chance to make much difference.

The results, however, could have been different had Pakistan played more five-day cricket leading up to the South Africa series, according to Whatmore, adding that the opponents were more prepared to the format while Pakistan had only played limited-overs cricket.

According to Whatmore, all their matches since the Sri Lanka tour had been white ball cricket as compared to South Africa, although he added that that the Pakistan squad will try their best to beat well, for which they needed to play well.

As Pakistan prepares itself for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, Whatmore further said that the team has to be extra competitive in each series, adding that the players are aware that they have extra difficulty attached to all their matches since they are all offshore.

Whatmore also added that his job, when he was appointed the coach, was detailed as to just get the team playing well and winning.