The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday made a couple of mega recruitments ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 by signing in former Australia opener Matthew Hayden and former South Africa pacer Vernon Philander as batting and bowling coach respectively for the showpiece event.
The announcement was made in Ramiz Raja’s presser after he took over as PCB’s chairman.
Earlier, Pakistan’s head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis had stepped down from their roles following which the PCB had roped in Abdul Razzaq and Saqlain Mushtaq as interim coaches for the upcoming home series against New Zealand.
One of the most destructive openers, Hayden was a part of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad in 2007.
Hayden has played nine T20Is, scoring 308 runs with strike-rate of 143.92.
The 49-year-old has also featured in 103 Tests and 161 ODIs for Australia.
On the other hand, South Africa’s Philander didn’t have a long white-ball career for his national side however, he was a part of the 2007 T20 WC team.
From seven T20Is, Philander, a right-arm pacer, has picked four wickets.
In Tests, he scalped 224 wickets from 64 matches before caliing it a day in 2020.
The Babar Azam-led Pakistan side will begin their T20 World Cup campaign with a blockbluster clash against arch-rivals India on October 24.
Earlier in the day, former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja was elected unopposed as the new chairman of the PCB after the post had fallen vacant when Ehsan Mani had stepped down after completing his three-year term in August.
The election for the new PCB chairman was held in Lahore where the board’s Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sheikh Azmat Saeed conducted the process beside presiding over the special meeting to elect the 36th chairman.
Addressing the Board of Governors (BoG) following his election, Raja said: “I am thankful to all of you for electing me as the PCB Chairman and look forward to working with you to ensure Pakistan cricket continues to thrive and grow stronger, both on and off-the-field.”
“One of my key focuses will be to help introduce in the Pakistan men’s cricket team the same culture, mind-set, attitude and approach that once made Pakistan one of the most feared cricket playing nations. As an organisation, we all need to get behind the national team and provide them the desired assistance and support so that they can produce that brand of cricket, which the fans also expect from them each time they step on to the field of play,” he was quoted as saying by the PCB website.
Further explaining about his new role, Raja expressed: “Obviously, as a former cricketer, my other priority will be to look into the welfare of our past and present cricketers. The game has and will always be about the cricketers and, as such, they deserve more recognition and respect from their parent institution.”
Earlier on September 7, Raja had the Pakistan cricketers and urged them to don’t pay attention to the changes in the board’s management and focus on their game.
Significantly, Raja is Pakistan’s 18th Test and 12th ODI captain, who has featured in 255 international matches between 1984 and 1997, amassing 8,674 runs.
The 39-year-old had previously served the PCB as its Chief Executive from 2003 to 2004.
Raja had also represented Pakistan on the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee and presently sits on the MCC World Cricket Committee. In the recent times, Raja had been working as a commentator for various broadcasters around the world.