LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed former Australia opener Matthew Hayden and ex-South Africa pacer Vernon Philander as the coaches of Pakistan cricket team for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
The decision was announced by newly-appointed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman, Ramiz Raja, during a press conference in Lahore on Monday. “For the T20 World Cup, we have signed up Matthew Hayden and Vernon Philander as our coaches,” he announced.
“Hayden can bring aggression in this team and he also has World Cup experience. He was a world-class player and an Australian occupying the dressing room is going to greatly benefit the team,” said Raja, adding, “I know Vernon Philander; he has good understanding about bowling.”
He continued, “Going forward, we will have to carry out an extensive exercise, in this regard, in order to look for people who fit our model. Our objective is to give this team the best possible options, so that it leads to improvement in performance.”
The development of adding Hayden and Philander to the Pakistan cricket squad comes after the sudden resignations of Misbahul Haq and Waqar Younis one month ahead of the T20 World Cup.
For the upcoming New Zealand series, PCB has already appointed Saqlain Mushtaq and Abdul Razzaq as interim coaches for the series.
Pakistan kick off their T20 World Cup campaign against India on October 24. Babar Azam will be leading the Men in Green in the tournament, his first as the captain.
Pakistan’s T20 World Cup squad: Babar Azam (Captain), Shadab Khan (VC), Asif Ali, Azam Khan, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Shaheen Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood
