LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is interested in hiring South African Gary Kirsten or Australian Justin Langer for the role of head coach.
Kirsten has coached the Indian team while Langer has coached Australia in the past.
The management is interested in securing a long-term contract for the new coach. The PCB continues its search to fill the vacant post of Pakistan head coach. The men in green have not had a designated head coach since the sacking of Grant Bradburn in the wake of a disappointing ODI World Cup campaign last year.
Former all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez temporarily filled the void and served as both team director and head coach during Pakistan’s tours of Australia and New Zealand. However, Hafeez stepped down last month, leaving the PCB to scramble to find a suitable replacement.
Initially, the PCB was in talks with former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson for the role of head coach. However, negotiations broke down and PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi cited leaks to the media as a contributing factor in Watson’s decision not to accept the offer.
“We also discussed with Shane Watson and one of the reasons why he did not accept the offer was because so many things were leaked in the media, most of which were not correct,” Naqvi revealed.
Apart from Kirsten and Langer, the PCB is said to be exploring options with Mike Hesson, Matthew Hayden, Eoin Morgan and Phil Simmons. While former PCB chief Zaka Ashraf advocated local coaches, Naqvi expressed a preference for a foreign coach.
However, the PCB is facing problems in convincing foreign candidates due to concerns over the treatment of past coaches, both foreign and local.
“It is because of PCB’s poor track record in appointing and firing coaches – foreign and local – in the past that others are now very reluctant to accept any offer from PCB,” acknowledged a board official.
