Wahab Riaz's academy coach now drives taxi to survive coronavirus crisis

Pakistan Cricket Board’s level two coach Imran Khattak who has trained cricketers Salman Butt, Wahab Riaz, and Aizaz Cheema has now been forced to drive a taxi as the coronavirus pandemic has halted cricketing activities to survive.

Khattak who has 10 years under his belt has served as a coach in Model Town Greens where several major names of Pakistan cricket often frequented and also coached a company team.

"Life was going well as a coach. I had been training a company’s team along with working in the academy. The pandemic stopped all these activities so I had to turn my car into a taxi," he told Geo Super.

Khattak urged for cricket activities to resume in the country so that many displaced professionals like himself could return to their profession. 

"England resumed its cricketing activities by adopting [standard operating procedures] SOPs. There’s no reason why Pakistan can’t do the same. Activities need to resume so that people like me can return to their profession."

He added that the cricket community was still feeling the effects of the departmental cricket shutdown and urged for its restoration along with a policy that could enable coaches to teach in educational institutes.

"A policy needs to be formulated for professional coaches so that they can coach in educational institutions. Domestic and departmental cricket should be restored so that the unemployed hundreds can return," he said.