A day after he was appointed Director of the Pakistan Cricket Team, Mohammad Hafeez is set to play the role of head coach as well. The former skipper replaced Mickey Arthur on Wednesday following a reshuffle after Babar Azam relinquished his post across formats.
According to ESPN Cricinfo, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is planning to merge the roles of team director and head coach into one. Going by that, Hafeez would coach the team in three Tests in Australia and five T20Is in New Zealand, in December and January, respectively.
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Pakistan didn’t have a team director until Arthur’s appointment earlier this year. Ex-PCB chief Najam Sethi had struck a deal that would see Arthur travelling with the team for certain series and tournaments while maintaining oversight when he couldn’t be with the side.
As per the report, when both Arthur and Bradburn were together with the side, no significant difference was found between their specific jobs. Hence, it prompted the PCB to get away with an extra post.
The PCB also stated that their roles will be ‘reassigned’ but there has been no further clarification on the same. Since Hafeez is set to step into the coach’s shoes with no prior experience, it’s pretty clear that Bradburn and Arthur won’t travel to Australia and New Zealand with the team.
It’s a massive boost for Hafeez who was appointed as the team director following a huge uproar in Pakistan Cricket. It would be a different challenge altogether for the former captain as he begins his coaching stint in Australia later this year.
Earlier on Wednesday, Babar resigned as the Pakistan cricket team’s captain across formats which prompted the PCB to name Shan Masood as Test captain, and Shaheen Afridi as T20I captain.
Pakistan tour of Australia
Pakistan will leave for Australia on November 30. They are scheduled to play a warm-up game, from December 6 to 9, against the Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval. The first Test gets underway on December 14 in Perth.
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