Former Australia Test opener Matthew Hayden and ex-South Africa pacer Vernon Philander have been appointed as coaches of the Pakistan team for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE, the board announced on Monday.
The appointments were announced by the newly-elected Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja.
The appointments of Hayden and Philander come just a week after head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis resigned from their respective posts after two years in the job.
"I think the Pakistan team needs a new direction. We have appointed Hayden and Philander for the World Cup," Raja said during a press conference.
"Hayden is Australian, I feel he can bring some aggression into the team. He has World Cup experience, he was a world class player," Raja told reporters. "An Australian occupying the dressing room will have a lot of benefits.... This Pakistan team can win the World Cup, it just needs an improvement of 10%," he said.
"Going forward, we will have to carry out an extensive exercise in this regard in order to look for people who fit our model. Our objective is to give this team the best possible options so that it leads to improvement in performances," he added.
The PCB had earlier roped in former Test spinner Saqlain Mushtaq and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq as interim coaches for the home series against New Zealand.
Misbah and Waqar left their jobs with one year of their contracts still remaining.
Raja, who played more than 250 international matches for Pakistan from 1984 to 1997, replaced Ehsan Mani to become the PCB chairman who stepped down from his role last month.
"One of my key focuses will be to help introduce in the Pakistan men's cricket team the same culture, mindset, attitude and approach that once made Pakistan one of the most feared cricket playing nations," Raja said.
Pakistan in the past has appointed many foreign coaches with relative success including Richard Pybus, Bob Woolmer, Geoff Lawson, Dav Whatmore and Mickey Arthur.
(With inputs from Reuters)
