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PCB appoints Mike Hesson as the new Whiteball Head Coach of Pakistan Cricket team, Aaqib Javed appointed Director of High-Performance

Do you support the PCB's decision to appoint Mike Hesson as the Whiteball Head Coach?

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BouncerGuy

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PCB appoints Mike Hesson as the new Whiteball Head Coach:

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) today announced the appointment of Mike Hesson, as the white-ball head coach of the Pakistan men’s cricket team effective from 26 May, 2025.

Hesson comes in to fill the post after evaluation of numerous applications received against the vacancy, which fell vacant after Pakistan men’s team tour to New Zealand in April.

Hesson had previously served as head coach of various international teams including New Zealand and Kenya. He is also currently serving as head coach of Islamabad United, who is the defending champions of HBL Pakistan Super League.

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi:

“I am pleased to announce the appointment of former New Zealand cricketer and renowned coach Mike Hesson as the white-ball head coach of the Pakistan men’s team.

“Mike brings with him a wealth of international experience and a proven track record of developing competitive sides. We look forward to his expertise and leadership in shaping the future of Pakistan’s white-ball cricket. Welcome to the team, Mike!”

Aaqib Javed appointed Director of High-Performance:​


Former Pakistan Test fast bowler Aqib Javed has been appointed as the Director High-Performance, the PCB confirmed today.

Aqib represented Pakistan in 22 Tests and 163 ODIs from 1988 to 1998. He has previously served as the interim head coach of the Pakistan men’s team.

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi:

“To strengthen our cricket infrastructure, we are pleased to welcome Aqib Javed as the Director of High Performance. His appointment, alongside Mike Hesson as the white-ball Head Coach, marks a significant step forward in our strategic vision for Pakistan Cricket.

“Together, their expertise and leadership will play a pivotal role in the development, evolution and success of our national setup.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1922188924048302132
 
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Aqib as Director of High Performance sounds hilarious. An incompetent failure like him should be the VP of Low Performance.

Nonetheless, thankfully the nightmare is over. The worst coach Pakistan has had in a very long time and now that his bubble has burst, he will not be able to lobby behind closed doors to sabotage Hesson like he sabotaged Kirsten and Gillespie.

The Aqib drama is over and he should not be employed at all by the PCB. He is not going to last long in this useless Director of High Performance role anyway.
 
Mamoon said:
Aqib as Director of High Performance sounds hilarious. An incompetent failure like him should be the VP of Low Performance.

Nonetheless, thankfully the nightmare is over. The worst coach Pakistan has had in a very long time and now that his bubble has burst, he will not be able to lobby behind closed doors to sabotage Hesson like he sabotaged Kirsten and Gillespie.

The Aqib drama is over and he should not be employed at all by the PCB. He is not going to last long in this useless Director of High Performance role anyway.
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What is your view on hesson ?.Our recent performances are pathetic .Can he bring best of shaheen ,rizwan and babar
 
kingusama92 said:
Perfect hire.

Please just let him run things without interference.
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Unlikely...but I think he knows it. He has been actively gunning for the job with his YouTube analysis and stuff...all while knowing what has happened to GK and Gillespie.

I suspect that like many he feels he will be able to ride the wave but unlike the previous two foreign coaches I do think he is going into this with his eyes wide open.
 
Want to be excited about this appointment, but its hard to when you consider Pakistan's recent track-record of coaches. Amazing that PCB managed to land Hesson after the way they have treated Mickey, Kirsten and Gillespie. He's a fantastic coach, if you actually listen to him, let him make decisions and don't fire him after a couple of weeks.

He recently started a YouTube channel where he talked about the problems of Pak cricket and what he likes about Salman Agha, who he has worked closely with:


 
I wrote more than a month ago he will be the coach, although even Mohd Akram name was initially under consideration if he Mike does not take the offer. Let us hope it will turn out be good relationship with PCB, though it is unlikely that it will end well as with most foreign coaches in Pakistan but needs to last long enough for him to make some good Impact on Pakistan team.
 
So Mike Hesson also got all of his desired extra coaching staff?

You can’t give him rubbish like Yousuf as T20 batting coach.
 
Rana said:
So Mike Hesson also got all of his desired extra coaching staff?

You can’t give him rubbish like Yousuf as T20 batting coach.
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TBH, Yousaf is not the guy you need with national team..I agree. He should work with u19 guys maybe...

Anyway, Hesson is a great choice.. He should be given free hand till 2027...
 
BouncerGuy said:
TBH, Yousaf is not the guy you need with national team..I agree. He should work with u19 guys maybe...

Anyway, Hesson is a great choice.. He should be given free hand till 2027...
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I think you are missing the point

It depends on what you want from the u19s he coaches. His best utility is to coach Test match mindset.

The guy is a poor reader of T20 batting styles and requirements.

A legendary batter but he isn’t a good student of seeing how the game is evolving in white ball batting.
 
pakfan54588 said:
What is your view on hesson ?.Our recent performances are pathetic .Can he bring best of shaheen ,rizwan and babar
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Those three are Pakistan’s MVPs, their three world class players. Pakistan is as good as anyone when they are on top of their game. It should be the objective of any coach not just Hesson to bring the best out of them because all three have years of cricket left in them.
 
Rana said:
I think you are missing the point

It depends on what you want from the u19s he coaches. His best utility is to coach Test match mindset.

The guy is a poor reader of T20 batting styles and requirements.

A legendary batter but he isn’t a good student of seeing how the game is evolving in white ball batting.
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Not just t20 batting bro... There are other formats too... Yousaf is one of the guys who should be utilized for those guys who are having technical difficulty.. At least yousaf should know these things.. I expect him to do it.

But this is about hesson so yousaf is not eh real topic here.
 
Mike Hesson is a very good coach but let's see how many months he survived in Pakistan cricket knowing the history of PCB . :kp
 
Hesson is one of the most passionate people I have ever seen, and he can travel anywhere in the world for cricket. He is very focused, balanced, and good at analyzing the game and reading players. He is professional and doesn’t speak rubbish or play blame games. If the PCB messes up with him, no one can save them, not sure whether he has any say in player selections.
He has a good amount of experience in the IPL and has worked with many big players like Kohli, Faf, and others.
 
For a coach to flourish , the board must be on the same page. The Pakistan issue is mediocre people on the board and toxic 90 s legends. Unless you change this Pakistan will not win Tournaments , they may win here and there but not tournaments.
 
Another guy that will last the best part of a few series. What is the point of appointing him or anyone else if the system is so poor. Absolute waste of money
 
Cover Drive Six said:
Hesson is one of the most passionate people I have ever seen, and he can travel anywhere in the world for cricket. He is very focused, balanced, and good at analyzing the game and reading players. He is professional and doesn’t speak rubbish or play blame games. If the PCB messes up with him, no one can save them, not sure whether he has any say in player selections.
He has a good amount of experience in the IPL and has worked with many big players like Kohli, Faf, and others.
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No one can the save this PCB. It's a brain free zone
 
Mike Hesson aint the kind of coach to set cones either. He works well when you have a solid system in place.

Yet to see if he can deliver what PAK fans/PCB expect
 
You know them fantasy threads we create, can you create one for how long the coach will last, the person who predicts correctly should get a reward; if a Pakistani wins, maybe a meet and greet with the PAF, if it’s an India; a cup of tea will do :yk
 
shaz619 said:
You know them fantasy threads we create, can you create one for how long the coach will last, the person who predicts correctly should get a reward; if a Pakistani wins, maybe a meet and greet with the PAF, if it’s an India; a cup of tea will do :yk
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Yeh, halal betting thread

Winner gets a prize from pp
 
Hectic said:
Not sure what I find the most surprising. That he was offered the job when he has openly been criticizing the PCB leadership. Or the fact that he has taken job knowing full well what the issues are and that he'll be the next victim of the very same system.
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Hahahah...good point.

He may one of those who think they can 'change' Pakistan. I like dreamers. Good luck to you, sir.
 
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Or in the case of the PCB, fool me for the 99th time— shame on me.

Let's wait 6 months before we even start discussing this stint. That’s about the average shelf life of a Pakistan cricket coach these days.
 
So the good thing is, this guy knows the Pakistan domestic circuit quite well because they have a strong scouting system for Islamabad United which he is a part of.

This wasn’t the case with Kirsten who had to do everything from scratch.
 
Don't think this will last soon either give it 6 months or so...

What's even worse is that they haven't even announced when his contract is till it's just speculation that it is a 2 year deal but nothing official has been released which is quite pathetic by the PCB.

Will he even get to choose his own support staff there's no news on that either.
 
I hope Hesson is given all the freedom to go all guns blazing at the problems, no matter what.. He is here till 2027 World Cup and he should be there till then. No more shenanigans needed now.
 
Idk why they removed Aqib, atleast guy was trying to move forward from mediocre players. This guy is leaning on babar and rizwan return, What a sad thing
 
Hesson seems novice when it comes to Pakistan national team, with echoes of RizBar being called back what will happen to players selected before them such as Hassan Nawaz, Haris etc.
 
cricfan432 said:
Idk why they removed Aqib, atleast guy was trying to move forward from mediocre players. This guy is leaning on babar and rizwan return, What a sad thing
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I would be highly surprised if Hesson goes a different route from Fakhar, Saim, Sahibzada as openers or top 3.

Not sure how he wants to fit in Babar and Rizwan.
 
There is no harm trying RizBar.

The harm is in accommodating them if they refuse to play modern cricket.

When I've heard Hesson speak about Babar he doesn't want this Babar. He believes that he can unlock the ability to play with intent and without fear. There's no harm in giving it a try but the key is that that rather than the team developing a strategy to accomodate them they must develop a strategy to play appropiately for the team.

Sadly I don't think they have the capability but the coach should give it a go for sure. There are that many useless bilateral T20s that you can pretty much give the whole country a cap if you need to.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
When I've heard Hesson speak about Babar he doesn't want this Babar. He believes that he can unlock the ability to play with intent and without fear
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You should listen to Babar speak

He isn’t willing to change his game. He keeps saying things like “people know how I play for the past 10 years”
 
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Rana said:
You should listen to Babar speak

He isn’t willing to change his game. He keeps saying things like “people know how I play for the past 10 years”

Kutte ki dum kabhi Seedhi nahi ho sakti.
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I don't see it happening either because he is stubborn but what I meant was that Hesson wanting to include Rizbar shouldnt be misunderstood as him supporting tuk tuk. He will try to make them play properly or he will drop them.
 
Rana said:
I would be highly surprised if Hesson goes a different route from Fakhar, Saim, Sahibzada as openers or top 3.

Not sure how he wants to fit in Babar and Rizwan.
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Whole 11 is set, agha and haris at 4 and 5, nawaz/niazi/samad next. Where do you fit rizbar
 
DeadlyVenom said:
I don't see it happening either because he is stubborn but what I meant was that Hesson wanting to include Rizbar shouldnt be misunderstood as him supporting tuk tuk. He will try to make them play properly or he will drop them.
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Weve better t20 players than rizbar, i dont see why he wants to include them, its not like they’ll suddenly turn into butler and gayle with their limited capabilities
 
cricfan432 said:
Whole 11 is set, agha and haris at 4 and 5, nawaz/niazi/samad next. Where do you fit rizbar
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Hesson has to make it make sense now that he thinks RizBar are in his plans.

It’s the same mistake all the coaches in the past 4-5 years have made which has brought Pakistan to this point.

Babar can do a job at 3. Where do you fit Rizwan?
 
cricfan432 said:
Weve better t20 players than rizbar, i dont see why he wants to include them, its not like they’ll suddenly turn into butler and gayle with their limited capabilities
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Rizwan in his last MS presser once again complained about Pakistan wanting to take a modern approach in batting

he can’t change. He knows he doesn’t have the ability therefore he acts as if he is purposely playing in a different way.
 
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Rana said:
You should listen to Babar speak

He isn’t willing to change his game. He keeps saying things like “people know how I play for the past 10 years”

Kutte ki dum kabhi Seedhi nahi ho sakti.
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people know how I play for the past 10 years”

Which is what? Rubbish? Kya keh saktei hain babar sahib
 
Rana said:
Hesson has to make it make sense now that he thinks RizBar are in his plans.

It’s the same mistake all the coaches in the past 4-5 years have made which has brought Pakistan to this point.

Babar can do a job at 3. Where do you fit Rizwan?
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I dont think babar is a good bet for next wc since its in flat or spin conditions, Id take him if wc was in england or australia
 

Listen from 6:00 minutes

This guy is not going to change. Try as hard as you want. He is the kind of guy that will always look for the easy way out first. He is incapable of evolving.
 
cricfan432 said:
Weve better t20 players than rizbar, i dont see why he wants to include them, its not like they’ll suddenly turn into butler and gayle with their limited capabilities
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He has only said they are in his plans. All players should be in the plans. I think people are overreacting. So far everything I have heard Hesson say about cricket has been clear that he knows his stuff about T20. Media will whip up a hysteria based on half baked news. Let's give him the time to see what he does.
 
Hesson Eyes Babar, Rizwan for T20I Reintegration Ahead of Asia Cup and World Cup


Newly appointed Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson is actively considering the reintegration of senior players Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan into the T20I squad, as part of long-term planning for the 2025 Asia Cup and the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Although both players were recently sidelined, missing the T20I series against New Zealand to allow younger talent international exposure, Hesson appears eager to restore their presence in the national setup. That series also saw Rizwan removed from the T20I captaincy after only two series, with Salman Ali Agha stepping in as the new skipper.

While the upcoming home series against Bangladesh may serve as a testing ground for emerging players, Hesson is reportedly keen on incorporating Babar and Rizwan into future plans. According to sources, the head coach recently held a strategic meeting with selector Aaqib Javed at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headquarters to outline the team’s direction.

Insiders suggest that Hesson is not just interested in reinstating the duo but is also focused on evolving their roles. He is believed to have urged both players to adopt a more aggressive style of play and to enhance their strike rates, viewing them as key assets in high-pressure games.

Privately, Hesson has described Babar and Rizwan as “match-winners,” emphasizing that, with the right guidance and roles, they still have the potential to turn games in Pakistan’s favor.

Pakistan’s next T20I engagement is a five-match home series against Bangladesh, set to be played in Faisalabad and Lahore later this month.
 
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