さよならを言うPCB

トーナメントのホストとして、パキスタンは勝つためのお気に入りの1つであり、ICCチャンピオンで6日間しかノックアウトされていないと、いくつかの影響があります。

Aaqib Javed’s stint as the Pakistan cricket team’s interim head coach will be a short one. Following a group-stage exit from the ICC Champions Trophy, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will sack Javed and his entire support staff for the 8-team tournament.

PCB to sack Pakistan head coach and staff

Just six days into the ICC Champions Trophy, Pakistan has been knocked out. This was after the country had waited 29 years to host an ICC event. PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has already made up his mind to remove Aaqib Javed, who is also part of the selection committee. Naqvi will further convene with the Board of Governors regarding overhauling the selection committee as well.

“Obviously there is backlash over the team’s performance in the Champions Trophy. The Board hasn’t decided as yet on whether the team will have separate head coaches (for red and white ball teams), but one thing is certain, the current support staff will be overhauled now after the poor show in the Champions Trophy,” a PCB source told PTI.

For the uninformed, PCB had appointed Aaqib Javed as the interim white-ball head coach after Gary Kirsten left the job, citing the board had changed the terms of their agreement. A few months later, Test head coach Jason Gillespie also left, stating what Kirsten had. PCB gave Aaqib that role as well. At the time, they claimed that due to the ongoing preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy, they couldn’t finalise a new head coach.

PCB to hunt for new Pakistan head coach

Now, they’ll have ample time. Pakistan will tour New Zealand from March 16 to April 5 (three ODIs and five T20Is), and before then PCB should name a new head. It’ll most likely be a former Pakistani cricketer since foreign coaches might hesitate to sign a contract having seen what transpired between the PCB and two reputed coaches in Kirsten and Gillespie.

“But the way the Board has been changing coaches and selectors since last year, it will be a challenge to find other candidates for these positions. The PCB, after the way Kirsten and Gillispie resigned, is not going to get a choice of field when it comes to foreign coaches, so most probably the PCB will look at former players for the job,” the source added.