Former cricketer makes shocking accusations against Aaqib Javed, McCullum

Former Pakistan cricketer Atiquz Zaman has made shocking allegations against Lahore Qalandars head coach Aaqib Javed and former New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum related to the third season of the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Zaman was part of the Lahore Qalandars coaching staff as fielding coach during PSL3, which also included Aaqib, former Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq as batting consultant, former Test player Kabir Khan as bowling coach and New Zealand’s Kyle Mills as technical and tactical advisor of the team.

While speaking in a Youtube video, Zaman accused Aaqib of shying away from responsibility as the head coach of Lahore Qalandars.

“According to me, Aaqib Javed is one of the worst coaches of the century. Despite losing three matches from winning positions, he didn’t do any review of the performance,” said Atiq. “He used to make no plans with regards to who would be the openers or which bowler will open the bowling. There was a club level setup in Qalandars. He used to send players depending on his mood. He never used to go inside the field during strategic timeout and always used to send other members of the coaching staff.”

“Aaqib never got the team together before the match. There was absolutely no culture in the team. He used to change three or four players after every match. I have done analysis of every ball as a fielding coach on a sheet. Aaqib never asked for that sheet or tried to read it. Maybe he wouldn’t have understood it since it is in English,” he added.

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Former wicketkeeper-batsman also revealed that Mills was hired to act as a messenger of Qalandars captain McCullum.

“McCullum never used to attend team meetings. Kyle Mills used to act as his messenger and deliver the message to him after the meeting,” he said. “I said in the meeting that I don’t understand how McCullum attempted a single when seven runs were needed in the last over with only two wickets left. I gave my honest opinion and later I was restricted to my hotel.”

“Aaqib was doing what McCullum asked him to do. Similarly, Kabir Khan was also stopped from going to the stadium after McCullum accused him of supporting the opposition side due to his reaction to a dropped catch of McCulllum,” he added.

Atiq also accused Aaqib of doing injustice with several Pakistan players in the side during the season.

“Aaqib also said that he wouldn’t let Umar Akmal play for Lahore Qalandars till the time he is the coach,” he said. “They made Raza Hasan a scapegoat by bowling him in powerplay overs and then dropped him after a few games. Aqib had also decided before the season to drop Bilawal Bhatti from the squad. He was not getting an excuse to send him back. He wanted a batsman instead of Bilawal.  So he made an excuse that Bilawal can’t throw well and declared him unfit with the help of his close doctor friend.”

Atiq added that he wanted to expose the entire matter in the media during the tournament but didn’t do it in order to maintain the reputation of PSL and Lahore Qalandars.