Image Credit- ICC
Pakistan’s head coach in Australia and New Zealand
will be Muhammad Hafeez. In a reorganisation that followed Babar Azam’s
departure as Pakistan captain, Hafeez was also named Pakistan team director on
Wednesday, replacing Mickey Arthur, who had held the role up until this point.
The former Pakistani all-rounder will play two
responsibilities for PCB—that of head coach and team director—during three Test
matches in Australia and five Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) in New Zealand in
December and January.
For Hafeez, 43, who last played for Pakistan two years
ago and has no prior coaching experience, it is a big step up. However, it is
known that the present management considers the head coach and team director to
be redundant in their separate duties.
Indeed, until early this year, Pakistan lacked a team
director. Former PCB chairman Najam Sethi, who had been openly pursuing Arthur,
came to an agreement with him wherein Arthur would travel with the team for
select series and tournaments, with Grant Bradburn serving as his steward
during his absence. The current PCB administration decided to eliminate the
additional role since it was perceived that there was no discernible
distinction between Arthur and Bradburn’s specific roles when they were both on
the side.
The choice brings an end to a very turbulent day for
Pakistani cricket. After being informed that he would no longer be serving as
captain for the two white-ball formats, Babar resigned from all three formats.
Babar’s decision to step down made it possible for Shan Masood to be named Test
captain and Shaheen Afridi to be named T20I captain, even though the PCB
management committee probably lacks the jurisdiction to make that decision.
Arthur and Bradburn’s positions were soon drastically
reduced; the PCB simply stated that they will be “reassigned” without
providing any other information. They will not accompany the team to Australia,
and although Hafeez’s appointment as team director was first reported, neither
the head coach nor the main selector were mentioned. The addition of Hafeez as
coach does add to the overall picture, but Wahab Riaz is still the front-runner
for the chief selector role.