Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed former fast bowler Aaqib Javed as the interim head coach of the national white-ball team. Javed will be in charge of the Pakistan ODI and T20I teams until the Champions Trophy to be held next year in Pakistan from February 19 to March 9.
Earlier, Gary Kirsten stepped down as the white-ball coach, after which Jason Gillespie served as the interim coach for the ODI and T20I series on Australian soil. During his tenure with the senior men’s team, Javed will remain the senior member of the men’s National Selection Committee.
The PCB, in the meantime, also said that it would start the process of recruitment for the permanent head coach of the Pakistan national team and has planned to complete it by the end of the Champions Trophy.
Earlier, there were reports that Gillespie was removed as the head coach across all three formats, but the PCB, on Sunday, refuted the claims, saying that the former Australian speedster will stay as the head coach for Pakistan’s two-match Test series against South Africa, scheduled to start on December 26.
“PCB strongly refutes the story. As announced previously, Jason Gillespie will continue to coach the Pakistan side for the two red-ball matches against South Africa,” the PCB wrote in a statement.
Pakistan cricket has undergone changes in their coaching staff quite a few times this year. Kirsten joined their coaching setup back in April, but stepped down after Pakistan failed to go beyond the group stage of the Men’s T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies.
After the tour of Australia, Pakistan will tour Zimbabwe for a T20I and ODI series. Thereafter, they will play in a T20I and ODI series against the Proteas followed by the Test series. Pakistan will also host the New Zealand and South Africa for a triangular ODI series from February 8 to 14.
