Latif succeeds axed Waqar

Latif succeeds axed Waqar

Latif announced his retirement after Pakistan's World Cup campaign

Photo gallery:Waqar's Pakistan career

Wicket-keeper Rashid Latif has been persuaded to come out of retirement to lead Pakistan following the sacking of Waqar Younis.

Latif has been guaranteed to keep the job until January 2004, a period which will see Pakistan play seven Tests and 25 one-day matches.

Waqar paid the price for Pakistan's abysmal showing at the World Cup, where they failed to qualify for the second phase.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also re-appointed former Test star Javed Miandad for a third term as coach following Richard Pybus' decision to quit.

The team's selection committee was overhauled, too, with only one member, Shafiq Ahmed, surviving the cull.

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"Javed Miandad is the new coach while Haroon Rasheed is the new manager of the Pakistan team which will appear in next month's Sharjah tournament," PCB spokesman Samiul Hasan said.

Latif, 34, had announced his retirement from Test cricket late last year after persistent neck problems.

He pulled out of a tour to Zimbabwe after doctors suggested neck vertebrae damage could result in partial paralysis.

The veteran of 34 Tests and 149 one-dayers said he was "too tired" for five-day cricket, retiring from all international cricket last month.

Latif ends international career

But Pakistan officials convinced him to carry on, appointing batsman Yousuf Youhana as his deputy.

Miandad's two previous terms in charge were blighted by conflict

Following his appointment, Latif said: "I have accepted the responsibility of leading the team at this critical stage as I want to play a key role in the revival of the senior team.

"I decided against retiring now because I believe I can still play a vital role in the rebuilding process."

Latif was a key figure in exposing the match-fixing scandals of the 1990s.

Miandad, 45, was coach for two separate periods between 1998 and 2001 before being forced to step down because of conflicts with senior players.

He is still Pakistan's leading Test run-scorer.

Another ex-captain, Aamer Sohail, will head the team's new selection committee of former Test players Saleem Yousaf, Shoaib Muhammad, Farukh Zaman and Shafiq Ahmed.