Aaqib Javed, Pakistan coaching staff to be sacked after defeat to India in Champions Trophy: Report
India thrashed arch-rival Pakistan by six wickets in a Group A encounter, and several former Pakistan cricketers have criticised the current squad's lack of quality.
Pakistan's defeat against India in the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai has not gone down well with the Pakistan Cricket Board. The top brass is all set to show the door to the interim head coach, Aaqib Javed, and the other members of the coaching staff.
India thrashed arch-rival Pakistan by six wickets in a Group A encounter, and several former Pakistan cricketers have criticised the current squad's lack of quality.
Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Salman Butt, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis have all called out the lack of options in the squad and defensive play in the Champions Trophy.
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According to a report in the news agency PTI, Aaqib Javed will be relieved of his duties as the interim head coach after the Champions Trophy.
"Obviously, there is backlash over the team's performance in the CT. The Board hasn't decided as yet on whether the team will have separate head coaches (for red and white ball teams), but one thing is certain: the current support staff will be overhauled now after the poor show in the Champions Trophy," the source told PTI.
"But the way the Board has been changing coaches and selectors since last year, it will be a challenge to find other candidates for these positions," he said.
PCB to look at former players for the head coach job
PCB are now all set to look at former players to take over the head coach's job. Earlier, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi appointed Aaqib as interim head coach for the white-ball team after the resignation of Gary Kirsten.
Aaqib was then asked to take over the reins of the Test team as well after Jason Gillespie resigned as the red-ball coach.
"The PCB, after the way Kirsten and Gillispie resigned, is not going to get a choice of field when it comes to foreign coaches, so most probably the PCB will look at former players for the job," the source said.
With the defeat against India in the Champions Trophy, the defending champions, Pakistan, are all but out of the eight-team tournament.
Mohammad Rizwan and co need Bangladesh to defeat New Zealand to stay alive in the competition. Pakistan then need to defeat Bangladesh and hope for an Indian win against New Zealand on March 2.
In both the matches against New Zealand and India, Pakistan displayed timid cricket and their approach left a lot to be desired. Babar Azam, Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah are all being criticised for not stepping up.
