Inzamam resignation as chief selector in between World Cup:
Following Pakistan’s not-so-good performance in the ICC World Cup 2023, a lot of big changes happened in the Pakistan Cricket Board. It all started when the chief selector, Inzamam ul Haq, quit during the tournament. They quickly picked Touseef Ahmad to do this job, but before he could even choose his first team, they replaced him.
Babar quits the captaincy
After the World Cup, the head of Pakistan cricket, Zaka Ashraf, got together with some ex-cricket players like Muhammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanveer, and Shahid Afridi. The next day, the team leader, Babar Azam, had to explain why the team didn’t do so well. They suggested Babar should keep leading the team in the red-ball matches for the Australia tour but give up leading in the white-ball matches. But Babar said no and decided to quit leading in all three types of matches. He shared this decision on Twitter, saying, “Today, I am stepping down as the captain of Pakistan in all formats.”
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PCB announced new captains
After that, Shan Masood became the new leader for Test matches, and Shaheen Shah Afridi took over for T20 matches. They haven’t chosen a leader for ODI matches yet, as the next one is set for November 2024.
Hafeez appointed as director of Pakistan cricket
Right before Babar quit, Morne Morkel, the coach for bowlers, also left. The PCB reacted by making Muhammad Hafeez the Director of Pakistan Cricket. At the same time, he became the main coach for the Australia series. This was similar to what happened during the World Cup when Mickey Arthur was the director, and Grant Bradburn was the head coach. Both of them got moved to the National Cricket Academy until their contracts finished.
Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal joined Pakistan team as bowling coaches
Hafeez had two jobs – being the director and the coach – to help the players be more aggressive and play like they do these days. Hafeez had mentioned before that Mickey Arthur was a bit too anxious in the dressing room. They also got Umar Gul for fast bowling coaching and Saeed Ajmal for spin bowling coaching.
Wahab Riaz new selector
Wahab Riaz started his new role as the main person choosing players for the Pakistan cricket team.
Rehan ul Haq replaced by Naveed Akram Cheema
More changes came when they removed the manager of the team, Rehan ul Haq, even though the players were okay with him. They brought in Naveed Akram Cheema as the new manager, and Mansoor Rana, who took over from Rehan ul Haq, continued as the assistant manager.
Muhammad Yousaf appointed as U19 Head Coach
Thinking about the younger players, the PCB did some things for the junior team, especially for the U19 Asia Cup and U19 World Cup. Muhammad Yousaf became the head coach for the U19 team, and Sohail Tanveer was put in charge of picking players for the U19 team.
U19 Asia cup and World cup
Looking ahead, the U19 Asia Cup is from 8 to 17 December in the UAE, and the U19 World Cup is from 13 January to 4 February. These changes show that the PCB is really serious about making Pakistani cricket better at all levels.
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