Last Updated:
Mohammad Hafeez suggests Pakistan consider a foreign PCB chairman, like foreign coaches, after the 2025 Champions Trophy failures. Current chairman Mohsin Naqvi faces criticism.
Mohammad Hafeez (PTI Photo)
Former captain Mohammad Hafeez believes Pakistan should consider having a foreign replacement for chairman Mohsin Naqvi as a ‘solution’ to the men’s cricket team’s recent failures. He suggested that like foreign coaches are often considered the ‘best’, the same should be assumed about the chairmen.
Hafeez’s comments come after Pakistan’s last group-stage match against Bangladesh in the 2025 Champions Trophy got washed out due to rain. The Men in Green were already eliminated from the race for the semi-finals after big losses to New Zealand and India in the first two matches.
But managing just one point from the last game meant Pakistan became the first team to not win a single match in a home men’s ICC tournament.
“For the solution, we have talked about the management, the players,” Hafeez said on a PTV show, a small clip of which he uploaded on his X (formerly Twitter) account. “See, we often talk about how we need foreign coaches. We think they perform the best. Why not to have a foreign chairman? (sic)”
Naqvi, a politician and the interior minister of Pakistan has been the PCB chief since February 6, 2024. He has seen the team crash in the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup and then again in the Champions Trophy.
When Naqvi joined, Hafeez was relieved from his role as the team director. The message from the PCB management was that the new chairman wanted the team to have foreign coaches.
The PCB soon appointed South Africa’s Gary Kirsten and Australia’s Jason Gillespie as coaches but both left before the 2025 Champions Trophy. Gillespie later cited a lack of control over the team selection and related affairs.
It led to the PCB appointing a former Pakistani cricketer Aaqib Javed-led interim support staff for the big home tournament. However, Javed and Co. oversaw the team losing a home tri-series to New Zealand before this debacle and are now reportedly set to be sacked after the tournament.
Naqvi is also said to have put the responsibility of the team for the Champions Trophy on the selection committee, which is also likely to be under the crosshairs soon.
