Mohammad Hafeez to serve as Pakistan coach for Australia and New Zealand tours

Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Hafeez is all set to serve as Pakistan’s head coach for the side’s upcoming tours against Australia and New Zealand. Hafeez will also be the team’s new director.

The reshuffle came on November 15 after ace batter Babar Azam stepped down from the captaincy. It has also been reported that the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) will be merging the roles of the team director and the head coach into one, and both of them will be served by Hafeez.

The 43-year-old will serve as the head coach for three Test matches in Australia and five T20Is in New Zealand in December and January. Hafeez last played played for Pakistan in 2021 and getting the role as the head coach could prove to be a significant step up for the former cricketer.

It is also worth noting that Hafeez has no coaching experience until now and the merging of the role of the team director and head coach comes after a separate role for both positions was not needed by the PCB.

The board has gone through major changes, which include many leadership changes on the side as well. Babar stepped down as the skipper in all three formats, which paved the way for Shan Masood to be appointed as the Test skipper, with Shaheen Afridi being the skipper of the T20I side.

Pakistan gear up for Test series vs Australia

Talking of Pakistan, the side will be gearing up to take on Australia for the three-match Test series. The first Test of the series will be played on December 14 at the Optus Stadium in Perth.

Pakistan will look to improve and let go of their poor showing at the ODI World Cup 2023 where the side failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament and were eliminated from the group stages.