Razzaq appointed Central Punjab’s First XI head coach

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday announced coaches for the 42 sides of six Cricket Associations for the 266-match 2021-22 domestic season.

“The appointments have been made after carrying out a 360-degree comprehensive performance review process, keeping in view the needs of the upcoming players across all rungs of the game and to further upskill the coaches by challenging them in different environments,” the PCB said.

The coaches were primarily assessed around two key objectives: putting their team in contention to win and players development.

Former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to win Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, National T20 Cup and Pakistan Cup in the 2020-21 season, has been tasked with leading the coaching staff of Central Punjab’s First XI, which includes former Pakistan internationals Akram Raza and Humayun Farhat, both promoted to First XI from Central Punjab’s Second XI coaching set-up as assistant and fielding coaches.

Shahid Anwar, who coached Central Punjab First XI in the last season, has been appointed as the head coach of Southern Punjab First XI. His staff includes Aizaz Cheema and Irfan Fazil as assistant and fielding coaches.

Abdul Rehman has moved to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after heading the Southern Punjab coaching staff. The seasoned coach is joined by Raffatullah Mohmand and Muhammad Siddiq as his assistant and fielding coaches.

Ijaz Ahmed Junior has been appointed as the head coach of Northern’s First XI team. Ijaz coached Central Punjab First XI in the 2019-20 domestic season. He is joined by former Pakistan fast bowler Samiullah Niazi, who was the assistant coach of Central Punjab First XI last season, and Fahad Akram, who earns promotion to Northern First XI after serving as assistant coach of the Association’s under-19 team last season, as a fielding coach.

Former Pakistan batters Basit Ali and Faisal Iqbal will continue in their roles as head coaches of Sindh and Balochistan First XI teams.

At Sindh, Mohammad Masroor replaces Iqbal Imam, who moves to Southern Punjab Second XI as a head coach, as the assistant coach. Hanif Malik, last season’s Sindh under-19 assistant coach, has earned a promotion and will be the fielding coach of the First XI team.

Balochistan’s assistant coach, along with the head coach of Southern Punjab’s under-19 and under-16 sides, will be appointed following a merit-based, robust recruitment process. Hussain Khosa will continue as Balochistan First XI’s fielding coach.

The review process was carried out by Grant Bradburn, the head of high performance coaching at the National High Performance Centre. He submitted his recommendations to Director High Performance, which were subsequently approved by the Chief Executive.

“It is very important that we continue to upskill our coaches by providing them constructive feedback regularly, while challenging them in different environments,” Bradburn said.