{"id":4640,"date":"2025-06-30T13:13:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T08:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/?p=4640"},"modified":"2025-06-30T16:46:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T11:46:34","slug":"azhar-mahmood-named-pakistans-new-test-head-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/2025\/06\/30\/azhar-mahmood-named-pakistans-new-test-head-coach","title":{"rendered":"Azhar Mahmood Named Pakistan\u2019s New Test Head Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"162\" data-end=\"181\"><strong>ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has signaled structural continuity amidst wider changes in team leadership by selecting former international all-rounder Azhar Mahmood as the acting red-ball head coach of the Pakistan Test team, filling a crucial coaching spot.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"475\" data-end=\"738\">Azhar will serve in this capacity until the completion of his current contract with the PCB. His appointment brings familiarity and experience to a Test side seeking consistency following an underwhelming performance in the last World Test Championship cycle.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"745\" data-end=\"777\">Experienced Hand at the Helm<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"779\" data-end=\"1184\">Azhar Mahmood\u2019s selection is widely seen as a natural progression.<br data-start=\"845\" data-end=\"848\" \/>He previously served as assistant to former red-ball coach Jason Gillespie, and his long-standing relationship with PCB coaching roles made him a frontrunner.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"779\" data-end=\"1184\">The ex-cricketer brings substantial experience to the job\u201421 Tests and 143 ODIs under his belt\u2014followed by coaching stints with national and global T20 franchises.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1186\" data-end=\"1343\">This experience, combined with his inside knowledge of Pakistan\u2019s cricketing ecosystem, is expected to offer much-needed stability to the red-ball setup.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1350\" data-end=\"1388\">Shaping the Future of Test Cricket<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1390\" data-end=\"1649\">Azhar\u2019s first major test will come in October, when Pakistan hosts South Africa for a red-ball series.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1390\" data-end=\"1649\">With time to work on the squad\u2019s technical and mental preparedness, his leadership will be key to improving Pakistan\u2019s standing in the Test arena.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1651\" data-end=\"1885\">This appointment aligns with PCB\u2019s recent coaching overhaul, which includes Mike Hesson as the head of white-ball formats, pointing toward a format-specific coaching strategy designed to improve performance and accountability.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1887\" data-end=\"2063\">As Pakistan begins this new chapter under Azhar\u2019s red-ball leadership, the focus is on regaining its competitive edge and restoring pride in the traditional format of the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has signaled structural continuity amidst wider changes in team leadership by selecting former international all-rounder Azhar Mahmood as the acting red-ball head coach of the Pakistan Test team, filling a crucial coaching spot. Azhar will serve in this capacity until the completion of his current contract with the PCB. &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2253,1552,2254],"class_list":["post-4640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-azharmahmood","tag-pakistancricket","tag-redballcoach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4640"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4696,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4640\/revisions\/4696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}