The cricket management committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headed by Najam Sethi is trying to convince South African Mickey Arthur to return as head coach of the national team, according to a report. A well-informed source told PTI that Sethi had approached Arthur who is presently attached with the Derbyshire team in England. Arthur was Pakistan head coach between 2016 and 2019 and saw the team win the Champions Trophy in 2017 with Sarfaraz Ahmed as captain.
“Efforts are on to bring back Arthur and some other options are also being looked at and they are all foreigners,” the source said.
The development came after the committee under Sethi decided to bring in a foreigner to manage the national side as current head coach Saqlain Mushtaq is stepping down from his role after the home series against New Zealand.
Sethi said a foreign coach was the best option for the Pakistan team.
“We have seen in the past when Mickey Arthur was the coach that a foreigner does not bring excess baggage with him and is willing to make no compromises in team interest,” Sethi told the media after a meeting of the committee.
When Ehsan Mani took over as PCB chairman in 2018 after Imran Khan won the general elections, he removed both Arthur and Sarfaraz after the 2019 World Cup and also released Inzamam-ul-Haq as chief selector.
The source said that Sethi has already spoken to Shahid Afridi, Inzamam ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar and Rashid Latif as possible candidates for the post of chief selector after removing Muhammad Wasim from the post on Friday.
“The new chief selector will be appointed in the next few days as Pakistan also plays a three-match ODI series against New Zealand after the two Tests,” the source said.
Wasim had announced the squad for the two home Tests against New Zealand before he was given the marching orders.
The source also said that Sethi was not in favour of retaining Babar Azam as Test captain.
After the two Tests against New Zealand, Pakistan will only play their next Test series in July 2023.
The cricket management committee has already made changes in the PCB with Sethi confirming that all departmental heads had been stripped off their powers until further orders.
The committee has also released all foreign coaches who were brought in to manage domestic teams by former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja.
Sethi said the contracts of the foreign coaches would be honoured.
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