Former Pakistan All-Rounder Azhar Mahmood is appointed Head Coach of the Pakistan Cricket Team.

Azhar Mahmood as Head Coach

Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood will serve as the head coach of the national men’s team for the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand, beginning on April 18 in Rawalpindi. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the entire management during a team meeting on Monday, with Wahab Riaz set to be the senior team manager. Mahmood featured in 21 Tests and 143 ODIs from 1997 to 2007 for the Men in Green, collectively taking 162 scalps. The 49-year-old had served as the bowling coach of the national men’s side from 2016 to 2019 and was also present on the coaching staff of Islamabad United in the PSL.

Mohammed Yousuf and Saeed Ajmal as batting and bowling coaches, respectively.

Ex-Pakistan middle-order batter Mohammed Yousuf has been appointed as the batting coach, while Saeed Ajmal will be the bowling coach. Ajmal had served in the role during their recent tours of Australia and New Zealand. The PCB will unveil the squad for the five-game series on April 9, Tuesday, at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore.

Pakistan reinstated Babar Azam as limited-overs captain.

Pakistan's national men’s team witnessed a captaincy change recently as the PCB reinstated Babar Azam as the white-ball captain after the star right-handed batter stepped down following the 2023 World Cup in India. It also meant that pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi captained the side for just one T20I series, which they lost 4-1. The Men in Green have 11 T20Is to go before the T20 World Cup 2024 begins on June 2. After facing the Kiwis in five T20Is at home, Babar Azam’s men will lock horns in three T20Is each against England and Ireland. They are in Group A, clubbed with co-hosts the USA and arch-rivals India, Ireland, and Canada for the T20 World Cup 2024. The sub-continent giants’ only title victory in the shortest format came in 2009 by beating Sri Lanka in the final at Lord’s.

Shaheen is upset with PCB.

It has been reported that Shaheen Shah Afridi wasn’t kept in the loop when PCB was discussing replacing him as the T20I captain. “Shaheen is rightly upset, as being the national T20 captain, he expected that even if the board or selectors wanted to remove him, they would have the decency to also inform him of the reasons behind this and keep him in the loop about everything,” a source was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Shaheen posts a cryptic story.

Shaheen recently shared an Instagram story, which read: “Never ever put me in a position where I have to show you how cruel and ruthless I can be. Don’t test my patience. Because I might be the kindest and sweetest person you’ve ever met, but once I reach my limit, you’ll see me do the things that no one thought I was capable of doing.”

Kevin Varchand