The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has planned to appoint separate foreign coaches for red-ball (Test) and white-ball (ODI and T20I) formats. According to the sources, they are considering Jason Gillespie from Australia and Gary Kirsten from South Africa for these respective positions. The PCB officially issued an advertisement that they are seeking coaches for these positions. The decision came after the PCB has reappointed star batter Babar Azam as the White-ball (ODI and T20I) captain. He replaced Shaheen Afridi. As a result, Afridi won't be the T20 captain anymore. Babar stepped down as captain after Pakistan couldn’t make it to the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup.
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The PCB's advertisement mentioned that interested candidates both foreign and local can apply until April 15. The board added that the candidate should have at least five years of coaching experience at various levels as domestic, international, or franchise team, including a minimum requirement of level two coaching credentials.
It said candidates who have higher-level certifications will be prioritised for the roles. However, a PCB source told PTI that despite the open call for applications, the board has already been in discussions with Kirsten and Gillespie. It is expected that they will apply and can be officially hired on a long-term basis. Kirsten, who had earlier coached the Indian team, is anticipated to be the head coach of the white ball formats while Gillispie is being looked at for the red ball side.
The source went on to say that PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi is ensuring the process is transparent and informed the Board of Governors of all developments.
"He has given the advertisement to ensure that whoever is appointed as coaches are given a proper contract and tenure to show their worth and not change at the whims and fancies of any chairman," the source said.
This is the first time that the PCB has issued an open advertisement for national team coaching positions. This marks a change from previous practices under past chairmen Zaka Ashraf and Najam Sethi. Even before them, former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja appointed coaches or consultants without any formal advertisement.
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