Mohammad Yousuf likely to be appointed as Pakistan team's head coach

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to take the services of national coaches for the upcoming T20 series against New Zealand, ARY News reported on Saturday citing sources.

Sources close to the development revealed that the former captain Mohammad Yousuf is likely to assume the role of head coach for the national cricket team, additionally, Abdul Razzaq is being considered for the position of bowling coach.

Mohammad Yousuf is currently serving as the head coach for the national under-19 cricket team of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, foreign coaches interested in the positions within the national team can submit their applications till April 15 after which a selection process will ensue to shortlist the candidates.

Meanwhile, Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie are reportedly the top contenders for red-ball coaching positions in Pakistan cricket.

In preparation for the upcoming series against New Zealand, a training camp is scheduled to take place in Rawalpindi after the Eid holidays.

Earlier to this, Pakistan’s batter Babar Azam has reportedly asked the PCB to make him the captain of the national team in all three formats.

According to the ESPN report, PCB has offered Babar Azam the white-ball captaincy once more, but the latter has not yet accepted the offer.

The report said that 29-year-old Azam has asked the PCB to be appointed captain across all three formats if he is to consider a return.

Following the conclusion of the ICC World Cup 2023, Babar was removed from the captaincy in all formats with Shaheen taking the realm of the shorter format and Shan Masood becoming Test captain while no skipper for ODIs was announced.

The decision to replace Shaheen Afridi in shorter format came after Pakistan lost the T20I series against New Zealand 4-1 under his captaincy.

In red-ball format, Pakistan played just one series under Shah Masood’s captaincy against Australia in December 2023 and lost to Kangaroos by 3-0.