Mohammad Hafeez steps down as Pakistan team director

Mohammad Hafeez has stepped down as Director Pakistan men’s cricket team following an administrative change within the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The PCB confirmed the development in a post on X, thanking Hafeez for his “invaluable contributions”.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board extends heartfelt gratitude to Mohammad Hafeez, Director Pakistan men’s cricket team, for his invaluable contributions,” the PCB said, wishing him good luck and success in his future endeavours.

Former PCB management committee chairman Zaka Ashraf had appointed Hafeez as team director in November last year for New Zealand and Australia tours and was likely to get an extension under the previous setup.

However, newly-appointed chairman Mohsin Naqvi made it clear in his first media talk that he wanted to hire foreign coaches for the national team, which is probably why Hafeez chose to resign.

Earlier, it was also reported that the relationship between Hafeez and senior players was less than ideal during the tour of New Zealand.

Reportedly, the players were unhappy with the long meetings conducted by Hafeez as well as the latter’s stern approach to the management of the team.

Moreover, Hafeez was also reluctant to issue NOCs to contract-bound cricketers for franchise cricket, asking them to put Pakistan before the leagues.

Later, NOCs were issued to star cricketers, Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, Azam Khan and others, for their participation in ILT20. However, when players asked for NOCs for the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Hafeez hesitated, putting their contracts in jeopardy.