PCB keen to retain ‘UAE short listed coach’ Aaqib in Pak team

Islamabad -  The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said it will try to retain former fast bowler Aaqib Javed in the national team’s support staff despite the fact that he has been shortlisted for the job of United Arab Emirates (UAE) coach.

Javed’s contract with the PCB as Pakistan’s bowling coach ends on February 29, the Daily Times reports.

According to reports, Aaqib wants to move on from the Pakistan role because of the heftier salary offered by the UAE and to give his children more opportunities.

Incidentally, the current UAE coach, former Pakistan fast bowler Kabir Khan, wants to shift out of the UAE as he said he was unable to find a suitable school for his children.

Although no official statement has been released from Aaqib’s side, the PCB has expressed its desire to extend his contract as a specialist bowling coach with the three-man coaching panel likely to be headed by Dav Whatmore.

“His name was recommended by the coach committee as a bowling coach for the Pakistan cricket team,” PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf said. 

“Though his contract finishes at the end of the England series, we are all set to extend his contract and offer him a long-term role as bowling coach. He hasn’t informed us or tendered his resignation to the PCB, but if he is thinking of it, then we have to sit down and talk to him. He is a qualified coach and a dedicated person. Obviously the UAE has offered him a job considering his performance with Pakistan.”

“I was informed that Aaqib is keen to take up the UAE job to give his family more opportunities and that is obviously his own choice and we can’t interfere in his personal matters. I definitely won’t stop him for wanting to boost his career, but we will obviously want to inform him what we have decided for him about his future with Pakistan. Ultimately the decision is his own,” Ashraf added.