Waqar Younis will reach Lahore next week to take over as Pakistan's new cricket coach, aiming to turn the consistently inconsistent team into a force to reckon with at the Test level.
The former pacer has been given a contract until the 2011 ODI World Cup. He made it clear that while his immediate aim is to prepare the team for the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies but improving their Test performance would be the real challenge for him.
"We have not been doing well in Test matches for the last three years and that is terrible since we have always been a good Test side," Waqar said in an interview from Sydney.
"It is good that we are the defending champions in the Twenty20 World Cup and also have a strong one-day line-up but the real challenge is doing well in test cricket and becoming a top test team," he noted.
Pakistan, seventh in the ICC Test rankings, last won a Test series in 2006 against the West Indies at home. Since then they have not been able to win a series either against South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand or Australia.
{{/usCountry}}Pakistan, seventh in the ICC Test rankings, last won a Test series in 2006 against the West Indies at home. Since then they have not been able to win a series either against South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand or Australia.
{{/usCountry}}"It is true that playing just four or five Tests between December, 2007 and July, 2009 has not helped the players at all and hurt their confidence and approach to Test cricket."
Pakistan is due to play around 12 tests against Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand over a period of eight months from May when they face Australia in England.