The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) today announced the appointment of former international fast bowler Aaqib Javed as the interim head coach of the Pakistan men’s cricket team until the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

PCB also said that during this period, Aaqib Javed will continue to serve as a senior member of the Pakistan men’s National Selection Committee. it is likely that Aaqib Javed will be assigned additional responsibilities following the conclusion of the eight-team tournament.

“We have requested Aqib Javed to accept the role of head coach temporarily till Champions Trophy. The reason is that we don’t want to bring a new coach in haste and it will be not right to take the decision in haste. The three month gap will see him working as head coach. Definitely, he wanted to work on other things in Pakistan cricket but I requested him to work as head coach for these three months. And after that, we have some plans in place for him and we will work on that. We will start the process of finding a new head coach in the next 10-15 days so that we find a good coach,” said Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Monday.

The announcement comes a day after PCB had refuted media reports that Aaqib Javed is likely to replace current Pakistan cricket team coach Jason Gillespie in all formats after the ongoing T20I series in Australia.

Meanwhile, the PCB also said that it will initiate a “recruitment process for a permanent white-ball head coach”. the Pakistan board said that it was looking to complete the permanent appointment by the end of the ICC Champions Trophy, which Pakistan is hosting from February 19 to March 9 next year.

The position of Pakistan’s white-ball coach had become vacant after Gary Kirsten stepped down. Red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie is currently with the Pakistan team in Australia for the ODI and T20I series.

Jason Gillespie will now rejoin the side for the upcoming two-Test series in South Africa.

The Pakistan men’s side is scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20Is in Zimbabwe (24 November – 5 December) and as many white-ball matches in South Africa (10-22 December). In the lead up to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan will host New Zealand and South Africa for an ODI triangular series from 8-14 February.