The Pakistan cricket board on Monday afternoon announced the appointment of Azhar Mahmood as the acting head coach of the Pakistan team’s red-ball team. Under Mahmood, Pakistan will play two test series, one against South Africa at home and one against Bangladesh in away conditions.
Azhar Mahmood’s track record with the Pakistan cricket team
Azhar Mahmood has been with the Pakistan team in a lot of different roles throughout the years. At times, he has been the head coach as well, like Pakistan’s last T20i series against New Zealand, where he was promoted as head coach in the absence of Aqib Javed, but this will be the first time that Azhar Mahmood will be given the coaching of the test team. To his credit, Azhar does have the silverware to show on his name as he was the bowling coach when Pakistan last won an ICC Trophy, the Champions Trophy 2017.
Pakistan’s musical chair of changing coaches
Pakistan has a history of changing coaches and management in the blink of an eye. Azhar Mahmood is, in fact, the 7th person to coach Pakistan since 2021, and he has even been given acting charge. This perhaps could have been one of the reasons for the poor performance of our test side in the last 2 WTC cycles, where we have finished in 6th and 9th positions respectively.
Mike Hesson’s role in the appointment of Azhar Mahmood.
It was speculated when Mike Hesson was appointed as Pakistan’s white ball coach that he wanted to bring in the people who had worked with him in the Islamabad United. According to sources, Mike’s backing of the experience that Azhar Mahmood had with the Pakistan cricket team, working as the assistant coach, helped his case to be the red ball coach of the Pakistan cricket team.
How long is Azhar Mahmood’s contract with the Pakistan cricket team?
For now, Azhar Mahmood has been given the charge as an acting coach, which will continue till March 2026, and it will include Pakistan’s two test series. Two-match series against South Africa in October and a two-match series against Sri Lanka in December-January, both of which will be played in Pakistan.
