April 18 : Pakistan appointed former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed as head coach of their test team for the two-match series in Bangladesh next month, the country’s cricket board said on Saturday.
Since Australian Jason Gillespie quit as Pakistan’s red-ball coach in December, Aaqib Javed and Azhar Mahmood temporarily guided the team led by Shan Masood, who will continue as captain in Bangladesh.
Sarfaraz, who led Pakistan to the Champions Trophy title in 2017, has worked with the under-19 team as well as Pakistan Shaheens after his retirement.
Pakistan have named four uncapped players – Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais and Muhammad Ghazi Ghori – to their 16-member squad for the Bangladesh series starting in Dhaka on May 8.
Sarfaraz’s former teammate Umar Gul will join him in the setup as the bowling coach.
Pakistan test squad: Shan Masood (captain), Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Salman Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Afridi.
