Aaqib Javed appointed Pakistan’s interim white-ball head coach till Champions Trophy

Lahore (The Uttam Hindu): Former fast-bowler Aaqib Javed has been appointed as Pakistan’s interim white-ball head coach till the 2025 Champions Trophy, announced the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday. PCB added that during this tenure, Aaqib will continue to serve as a senior member of the men’s national selection committee, and will be assigned additional responsibilities following the conclusion of the eight-team tournament.

Aaqib played 22 Tests and 163 ODIs for Pakistan during his decade-long international career and was also a member of the 1992 ODI World Cup winning side. His previous coaching experience has been being the head coach and director of cricket operations for the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) from 2016 to 2024, where they won two consecutive titles. He also briefly worked as Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling coach and had taken a similar role in the Pakistan set-up previously. Aaqib had also helped the Afghanistan team in a coaching capacity and served as the UAE head coach from 2012 to 2016.

The white-ball head coach role for the Pakistan men’s team had become vacant following the resignation of Gary Kirsten ahead of the tour of Australia. Red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie coached the white-ball side in Australia, where Pakistan won the ODI series, and are currently 0-2 down in the three-match T20I series. PCB said Gillespie will now rejoin the side for Pakistan’s upcoming two-match Test series in South Africa.

This latest coaching reshuffle means that the white-ball coach will have a say in the selection of Pakistan’s limited-overs teams, which is not the case with the red-ball head coach currently. Aaqib’s first assignment as Pakistan’s new white-ball coach will be the tour of Zimbabwe for three ODIs and three T20Is, scheduled from November 24 to December 5, which marks the start of a hectic limited-overs schedule for the side. It is followed by as many white-ball matches in South Africa set to be held from December 10-22. In the lead-up to the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, Pakistan will host New Zealand and South Africa for an ODI tri-series from February 8-14.