Pakistan cricket team had a mixed white ball leg tour against Australia. The Men in Green won the ODI series in Australia after 22 years but got whitewashed in T20Is by 3-0. PCB’s selector Aaqib Javed has got a lot of credit for reviving Pakistan cricket. Aaqib Javed was appointed to the selection panel in the middle of the England Test series in which Pakistan won the series by 2-1 and they rediscovered their mojo.
Pakistan’s next white ball assignment is against Zimbabwe commencing from 24th November where they are slated to play 3 ODIs & 3 T20Is in Zimbabwe. All eyes will be on the skipper Mohammad Rizwan whose tactics have been quite impressive and is often said as the bowler’s captain.
We have temporarily asked Aaqib Javed to take over as coach until Champions Trophy- Mohsin Naqvi
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi was having an interaction with the media and stated that Aaqib Javed will be the new head coach only till the conclusion of ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Mohsin Naqvi made it very much clear that PCB will start the process of looking for head coach in next 10-15 days.
“We have temporarily asked Aaqib Javed to take over as coach until the 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,” said PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi.
“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. Pakistan’s pride is of primary importance,” he added.
Great chance for Aaqib Javed
It won’t be wrong to say that Aaqib Javed knows the domestic structure of Pakistan very well. The likes of Abdullah Shafique & Saim Ayub performed exceedingly well against Australia in ODIs which took the pressure off Mohammad Rizwan & Babar Azam. PCB’s selection panel has complete authority of playing 11 which irked Jason Gillespie (*interim head coach for white ball team for Australia ODIs) massively.
Aaqib Javed resigned from the post of head coach of Lahore Qalandars a franchise in PSL. Aaqib also was the bowling coach for Sri Lanka at the start of the year. Aaqib Javed would be well aware of the fact that PCB wants results & to be precise to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and he will also be a part of selection panel quite intriguing. Given how Gary Kirsten quit from the white ball head coach post in October 2024, it’s not that much easy to have a long run as a head coach in Pakistan cricket with multiple head coaches being sacked over the last couple of years.