Moin Khan appointed Pakistan cricket coach

Moin Khan appointed Pakistan cricket coach

Pakistan on Tuesday appointed former captain Moin Khan as the head coach of the national team, replacing Australian Dav Whatmore whose two-year contract expired last month.

Khan, 42, was shortlisted along with another former captain and ex-coach Waqar Younis by a four-man committee which included former captain Javed Miandad, Intikhab Alam and Wasim Akram earlier this week.

The decision came after a lengthy management committee meeting under the chairmanship of Najam Sethi who replaced Zaka Ashraf on Monday.

The decision came as a blow to Younis who was regarded as favourite to regain the post he left in 2011 but Ashraf's sacking led to him not being selected.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed told reporters Khan will coach the team for this month's Asia Cup and next month's World Twenty20 -- both to be held in Bangladesh.

"Khan has been appointed head coach on the recommendations of the coach committee and since we have no cricket until October this year we will review his contract after the two tours," said Ahmed, the fourth member of the coach committee.

Khan said his top priority is to help the team defend the Asia Cup title it won in 2012.

"It's a big honour to coach the team," Khan told AFP. "It's a also a big responsibility and I would like the fans to support me.

"The first task is to win the Asia Cup," said Khan under whom Pakistan won the first of two Asia Cup titles in 2000. "We will do our best to lift the performance."

Khan played 69 Tests and 219 one-day internationals for Pakistan in the 1990s and 2000s. He has also coached the Pakistani and Indian domestic teams but never an international team.

Khan has been team manager since July this year. Former paceman Zakir Khan, a director in the PCB, takes over as manager for the two tours.

Pakistan had former Australian batsman Whatmore as head coach from March 2012 to last month.

Former opening batsman Shoaib Mohammad meanwhile has been appointed as fielding coach to replace Englishman Julian Fountain whose contract also expired last month.

Another former captain Zaheer Abbas was appointed "chief cricket consultant" and will accompany the team on tours, said Ahmed.

Abbas, known as Asia's Don Bradman, will be in charge of batting.

Former captain Aamir Sohail's appointment as chief selector last week was declared null and void, with former Test batsman Azhar Khan taking his place.

Bowling coach Mohammad Akram's contract is also renewed for another two years, said Ahmed.

Moin Khan named head coach

Pakistan have named former wicket-keeper batsman, Moin Khan as the head coach. He replaces Dav Whatmore, whose contract had not been extended.

Aamer Sohail, who was appointed as the chief selector just a week ago has been replaced by former cricketer, Azhar Khan. The latter will lead an interim selection committee. Sohail will continue with the other role that he had been given - that of director, game and development.

Both decisions were taken by an interim managing committee that had taken over after the sacking of Zaka Ashraf by the Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif. 

Imran Khan criticises Pakistan cricket chief appointment

Former Pakistan captain turned politician Imran Khan Tuesday lashed out at the country's newly reappointed cricket chief, alleging he was being rewarded for helping the ruling party commit fraud in last year's general elections.

Najam Sethi, a prominent journalist who was also appointed as interim chief minister of the Punjab province during last year's election campaign, was reinstated as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman on Monday by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

His predecessor Zaka Ashraf was removed on charges of not running the board properly.

But Khan said that Sethi was being rewarded for helping to rig the result of the May elections, in which his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party won 35 of the 272 seats in the national parliament.

The PTI has launched legal challenges concerning the result in hundreds of constituencies at the national and provincial levels.

"When the election tribunal rules on them we will know... who fixed the puncture and who was rewarded with the gift of the PCB chairmanship," Khan told reporters.

"Fixing the punctures" refers to election rigging allegations.

Sethi denied the allegations.

"Whoever has been accusing me (of rigging in elections)... I will take legal actions against them," Sethi told reporters.

Khan also questioned whether Sethi, who is best known as the editor of the liberal Friday Times weekly newspaper, had enough cricketing knowledge for the post.

Sethi's reinstatement was the latest twist in a long running legal saga that saw Ashraf brought back as chief on January 15 by the Islamabad high court, eight months after he was originally removed over dubious elections in the PCB.

Sethi was appointed the caretaker chairman in the interim period.

Meanwhile, Ashraf's sacking was challenged in the Islamabad high court by two petitioners.