Dav Whatmore, the man predicted to become Pakistan's next cricket coach, arrived for an interview in Lahore on Saturday, moving a step closer to taking the sport's hot seat.
The former Australian batsman, 57, who coached Sri Lanka to a World Cup championship in 1996, is the favourite to replace Waqar Younis, who quit the post in September last year over health issues.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed the former opener Mohsin Khan as an interim coach against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and had to extend his stint in charge for the series against England in the UAE as the selection process was delayed.
Pakistan face England in the first of three Tests in Dubai starting Tuesday. The Tests will be followed by four one-day and three Twenty20 internationals. A new coach will take over during the Asia Cup in Bangladesh in March.
The PCB appointed a committee headed by the former captain Intikhab Alam, which short-listed five candidates for the post.
"Whatmore has reached here and we will talk to him on the issue," Alam told Agence France-Presse, without elaborating. PCB have also kept silent on the issue so as not to derail the process.
Whatmore, who played seven Tests and one one-day international for Australia in 1979, was in talks with the PCB through another former captain, Ramiz Raja, who assisted the committee.
Whatmore also coached Bangladesh between 2003 and 2007.
* Agence France-Presse
