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Hayden joins Pakistan for T20 World Cup

3 minute read

Matthew Hayden will venture into international coaching for the first time with the former Test opener to be part of Pakistan's Twenty20 World Cup campaign.

Former Australian Test opener Matthew Hayden has been recruited to Pakistan's backroom staff for the Twenty20 World Cup.

And ex-South African fast bowler Vernon Philander will join Hayden on the coaching team in appointments announced by new Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja.

A void in Pakistan coaching set-up was created last week after head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling mentor Waqar Younis stepped down.

Abdul Razzaq and Saqlain Mushtaq will be interim coaches for a series against New Zealand.

"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 per cent."

Hayden was one of the most destructive openers of his era, forming a formidable partnership with Justin Langer, the coach of the Australian side since 2018.

Besides playing 103 Tests and 161 ODIs, Hayden also figured in nine T20Is and was a member of Australia's World Cup squad in 2007.

Raja said a head coach would be appointed to work alongside Hayden and Philander who both have limited coaching experience.

Hayden has worked mostly in the media since retiring in 2009 and he will follow Geoff Lawson and Dav Whatmore as Australians who have been part of the Pakistan coaching scene.

Philander retired from international cricket in 2020.

Pakistan open their T20 World Cup campaign in the UAE against India on October 24.

Babar Azam, ranked second behind England's Dawid Malan in world T20I batting rankings, will captain the Pakistan team.

Raja, who played more than 250 international matches for Pakistan from 1984 to 1997, replaces Ehsan Mani who stepped down from his role last month.

After his retirement, Raja became a cricket commentator. while the 59-year-old served as the PCB chief executive from 2003 to 2004.

with Reuters

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