Eight applicants for Pakistan bowling coach position

Eight people, including five Pakistanis, have applied for the position of the country's bowling coach, ESPNcricinfo has learnt. Among the applicants are Ian Pont, the former Bangladesh bowling coach, Bazeegh Zaka, the Maldives coach, and former Pakistan players Jalal-ud-Din, Mohsin Kamal, Sabih Azhar and Mohammad Akram.

The vacancy was created after the PCB failed to prevent former Pakistan bowling coach Aaqib Javed from moving on to become UAE head coach. The PCB's plan, under former chairman Ijaz Butt, was to bring in only a head coach to replace Waqar Younis, who resigned due to health reasons. But the new chairman, Zaka Ashraf, planned to form a team of specialist coaching staff. Dav Whatmore and Julien Foutain were appointed head/batting and fielding coach respectively and Javed was to continue as bowling coach but the PCB received a blow when he decided to move to the UAE.

There are five Pakistanis among the applicants. Kamal has recently ended a three-year head-coach contract with Bahrain Cricket Association. Azhar, who is currently working with the Pakistan Under-19 team, has ample experience in the country's domestic circuit while Jalal-ud-Din took the first hat-trick in an ODI. Akram has been settled in England for some years now.

It will be a tough task for the PCB to shortlist candidates from the eight applicants as the major requirement for the applicant is to have at least five years of experience in a similar role with elite cricketers. Most of the applicants don't fulfill this requirement.