Hafeez appointed as cricket team’s director; Wahab Riaz named as chief selector,

Lahore_PCB  appointed former all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez as the team director on Wednesday following the World Cup failure in India.

The former all-rounder has replaced Mickey Arthur days after the national team was eliminated from the World Cup 2023.

The board in a statement said it had changed the portfolio of the entire coaching staff including Director Cricket Mickey Arthur.

“All coaches will continue to work in National Cricket Academy while PCB will announce the new coaching staff in due course for the upcoming series in Australia and New Zealand,” it added.

Meanwhile, former pacer Wahab Riaz has been named as chief selector, a post that fell vacant after Inzamaul Haq resigned from the post over allegations of conflict of interest.

The PCB has appointed Sohail Tanveer as head of the junior selection team.

The PCB had announced on X that it had changed the portfolio of the Pakistan coaching staff. “All coaches will continue to work in National Cricket Academy while PCB will announce the new coaching staff in due course for the upcoming series in Australia and New Zealand,” the PCB statement said.

Mohammad Hafeez had represented Pakistan in 55 Tests, 218 ODIs, and 119 T20s.

Recently, the 43-year-old was elected as a member of the technical committee.

Mohammad Hafeez was a prominent member of the team that won the Champions Trophy for the country.

Earlier today, the PCB also appointed Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi as Test and T20I captains respectively.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the PCB shared the new captains of the national team for the Test and T20I format.

“Presenting our captains. [Shan Masood] has been appointed Test captain while [Shaheen Shah Afridi] will lead the T20I side,” PCB wrote.

Shan Masood’s first assignment will be a three-match away Test series against Australia, starting on December 14.

Whereas, Shaheen Afridi’s first challenge as the T20I captain will be a five-match series against New Zealand, scheduled for January.

Meanwhile, the PCB will appoint the ODI captain in due course. Notably, Pakistan’s next ODI fixture is scheduled in November 2024 when they tour Australia for a three-match each ODI and T20I series.

The development came after star batter Babar Azam announced to step down as all-format captain following the team’s dismal performance in the ongoing World Cup 2023.

“Today, I am stepping down as the captain of Pakistan in all formats. It’s a difficult decision but I feel it is a right time for this call,” the right-handed batter said in a statement issued on X (Formerly Twitter).