The condition of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is very bad these days! The thing is that they have a coach, Azhar Mahmood, whom they can neither remove nor use fully.
Azhar, who has been a former Test all-rounder, has been made the interim head coach by PCB as the red-ball coach, but the story behind this is very interesting.
What is the whole matter?
Actually, Azhar Mahmood’s contract with PCB was done by the previous management, which will run till April-May 2026.
There is a big catch in this contract, if PCB removes Azhar before time, then they will have to pay 6 months’ salary, i.e. about 45 crore Pakistani rupees (about 1.37 crore Indian rupees) as compensation.
Now who would want to spend so much money?
This is the reason why PCB made Azhar the interim coach of the Test team, so that his salary is not wasted till the end of his contract.
Azhar gets a hefty salary of 75 lakh Pakistani rupees (about 25,000 dollars) every month, which is the highest among Pakistan coaches.
But the problem increased when the new white-ball head coach Mike Hesson clearly said that he will bring his own support staff, and Azhar’s name was not in it.
Now the question before PCB was, what to do with Azhar who has such a huge salary?
Why was Azhar angry?
Azhar himself is not happy with this role. He had requested PCB to give him a chance to work with the junior team, but there too there was a problem.
The top people of PCB, especially the selector and National Cricket Academy head Aaqib Javed, are not impressed with Azhar’s coaching style.
Nevertheless, to save money, PCB made Azhar the Test coach.
This is not the first time PCB has faced this situation. Earlier, PCB had to face similar financial difficulties in removing big names like Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfraz Ahmed from the role of Champions Cup mentors.
Azhar’s first task will be to try and make Pakistan win the home Test series against South Africa.
But the question is, will Azhar be able to capitalize on this opportunity, or will PCB’s financial hassles take a toll on his performance?
