Pakistan appoint chief selector Mohsin Khan as coach

Karachi (AFP): Pakistan appointed on Monday chief selector Mohsin Khan as interim coach for this month’s Test and limited-over series against Sri Lanka, a day after he unveiled the Test squad.

The 56-year-old will replace Waqar Younis, who left the post on medical grounds after Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe last month.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Khan will be in charge for the Sri Lanka series only, adding it was “in the process of appointing a full-time coach”.

Pakistan play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 against the islanders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after Sri Lanka refused to tour Pakistan, where they were attacked in 2009.

The attack, which killed eight Pakistanis and wounded seven visiting players and their assistant coach, saw all international cricket in Pakistan suspended, forcing them to play at neutral venues.

Khan, a charasmatic opener who played 46 Tests and 75 one-day matches between 1977 and 1986, assumed charge as chief selector in 2010. He is the fourth coach since PCB chairman Ijaz Butt’s tenure began in 2008.

Butt sacked Australian coach Geoff Lawson and then replaced Intikhab Alam with Waqar in 2010. Naveed Akram Cheema will join the team as manager after the Tests and will stay on for the December tour of Bangladesh.