Pakistan news – Aaqib Javed takes charge as interim white-ball head coach

Former Pakistan quick and UAE men’s head coach Aaqib will continue to serve as a senior member of the Pakistan men’s selection committee, too, and “will be assigned additional responsibilities following the conclusion” of the Champions Trophy, the PCB said in a statement on Monday.

The PCB added that it “will initiate the recruitment process for a permanent white-ball head coach” with the aim of completing the appointment by the end of the Champions Trophy, which is set to run from February 19 to March 9.

Speaking at a press meet at Gaddafi Stadium on Monday, Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB chairman, said, “We have temporarily asked Aaqib Javed to take over as coach until Champions Trophy. We don’t want to act too hastily in bringing in another coach who isn’t right. So this three-month gap, Aaqib will work [in that position]. He definitely wants to work on other things but we requested him to work for three months as head coach and after that we will see about the other stuff he wants to do.

“It is only for [Aaqib to be only] white-ball [coach] and only [in an] interim [capacity]. We will begin the process of looking for a head coach in the next 10-15 days so we can search and find a good head coach.”

Aaqib maintaining his presence on the selection committee puts the PCB’s coaching setup in the unusual position where the interim white-ball coach does have a say in selection across all formats, while the full-time red-ball coach does not have a say in selection for the Test side.

The decision to hand Aaqib white-ball coaching duties at such a critical phase of whote-ball cricket for Pakistan underscored how supersonic the speed of Aaqib’s ascent has been . Until a few weeks ago, he was Lahore Qalandars’ long-term coach and director of cricket operations, where he had a mixed record; he led the side to consecutive PSL titles, but also saw several bottom-placed finishes, including earlier this season.

When appointed a member of the selection committee, he was viewed by the PCB’s top brass as the mastermind behind the implementation of spin-friendly wickets against England to turn that series. He quit his role at the Qalandars to focus on the PCB, where he was initially viewed as the favourite to be appointed director at the National Cricket Academy. He served a stint as Sri Lanka’s bowling coach earlier this year as well as one with the UAE, but now begins his highest profile challenge.

The tour of Australia, where Pakistan won the ODI series but lost the T20Is, ends today, and Pakistan are next slotted to play three ODIs and three T20Is in Zimbabwe (November 24 to December 5) before travelling to South Africa. In South Africa, they will first play three T20Is (December 10 to 14) and then three ODIs (December 17 to 22) before the two Tests. Pakistan then play a two-Test series at home against West Indies (January 16 to 28) before hosting New Zealand and South Africa in a short ODI tri-series just before the Champions Trophy.