Azhar Mahmood Appointed as Pakistan’s New Head Coach
Three months after the Pakistan Cricket Board parted ways with former Australian cricketer Jason Gillespie, the post of head coach for the Test team was vacant. The PCB has now filled that vacancy by appointing Azhar Mahmood as the new head coach.
Azhar Mahmood, who played 21 Tests and 143 ODIs for Pakistan, had announced his retirement from international cricket just a month ago. Following continuous failures across all three formats, there were indications of a major overhaul in Pakistan cricket. As part of that process, Mahmood has been brought in as head coach.
Before this, Pakistan had appointed 8 different coaches in the last 5 years on an interim basis. Mahmood had earlier served as Pakistan’s bowling coach. He was also the head coach of Pakistan’s Under-19 team and had worked with the national team in various capacities.
It is noteworthy that after retiring, Mahmood had expressed interest in coaching. The PCB has now given him that opportunity. Along with Mahmood, Umar Gul has also been appointed to the coaching staff.
The new coaching setup will begin work with the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh in May. A training camp for the series will be held in Karachi starting April 27.
