Mohammad Hafeez named Pakistan head coach for Australia and New Zealand tours

Mohammad Hafeez was appointed as team director after Pakistan’s disappointing campaign in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

Pakistan cricket team have gone through a lot in the last 4 or 5 weeks. Their performance at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 was not up to par. They started with two wins and then suffered four back-to-back defeats, which shattered their chances to qualify for the semi-finals completely. They had a slight chance in their last group match against the defending champions, England at Eden Gardens.

But it also ended with England posting a big first-innings total and winning the game by 93 runs. Pakistan ended the tournament at fifth place with five defeats and four wins. This bad performance by the team created chaos, which resulted in some big decisions taking place in the last few days. It started with fast bowling coach Morne Morkel resigning from his place.

Mohammad Hafeez to travel as Head Coach with Pakistan Cricket Team for tours to Australia and New Zealand.

Morkel’s resignation was followed by Babaz Azam quitting the captaincy in all three formats on Wednesday, which came as a shock to many fans. Later, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Shaheen Afridi as T20I captain and Shan Masood as test captain. Hafeez was given the responsibility of being the team director while Mickey Arthur and his staff were sent to the National Cricket Academy to work.

PCB is yet to announce the new coaching staff, but with two important tours coming up, the board has decided to send Hafeez as the head coach of the team for the next two international assignments. Pakistan will play three away tests against Australia, which will be followed by a five-match T20I series against Black Caps in New Zealand in December and January, respectively.

Hafeez, who was the member of the team that won the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, will be the coach on these two tours. He was a member of PCB Technical Committee before this. Both tours will be very important for the team. The test series is part of the ongoing World test championship, while five T20Is will help them prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 in USA and West Indies.

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