Following the present Champions Trophy 2025, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is likely to remove the interim men’s cricket head coach and support staff led by Aaqib Javed.
The coaching set-up will take the fall for the team’s back-to-back defeats to New Zealand and India in the group stage, which has meant that Pakistan is dependent on other participants’ results to have a shot at qualifying for the semi-finals. According to a PTI report, which cited a PCB source, Chairman Mohsin Naqvi will also speak with the Board of Governors on whether to retain the national selection committee or not.
“The backlash to the team’s performance in the CT is obvious. There are grounds for the Board yet to announce if separate head coaches will be appointed for the red and white-ball teams, but surely this one is certain-the coming overhaul of the support staff after their showing in the Champions Trophy,” the news agency quoted the PCB source as saying: “But with the constant changes in the coaches and selectors by the Board for the past one year, finding other candidates to replace them is going to be a tough job.”
The ignominy of an early exit from its first ICC tournament hosted by Pakistan since 1996 would be great not only for the team but also for the board and the country. The losses have not been narrow either, as New Zealand defeated them by 60 runs in the tournament opener, and India beat them by 6 wickets.
In late 2024, Naqvi appointed Aaqib interim head coach of the white ball team after Gary Kirsten resigned. Alpine Jason Gillispie also resigned from his post as red-ball coach, and Aaqib was requested to replace him as well.
Sources say that PCB could not appoint permanent coaches before the World Cup because it was busy preparing for the Champions Trophy. This will now take precedence over Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand from March 16 to April 5, which includes five T20s and three ODIs.
“The PCB will not have the luxury of choice with respect to foreign coaches, given the way Kirsten and Gillispie resigned. It is most likely that the PCB will look at former players for the job,” said the sources.
