PCB shortlists applicants in coach hunt

The PCB's coach committee, comprising former captains Javed Miandad, Intikhab Alam and Wasim Akram, has made recommendations for the positions of head, batting and fielding coaches for the national side. There were no overseas applicants among the 25 that were received for the three posts. The committee has made two recommendations for each position as the board looks to find replacements for Dav Whatmore and fielding coach Julien Fountain in time for the forthcoming Asia Cup in Bangladesh. In November 2013, the PCB had decided not to extend Whatmore's contract as coach.

Mohammad Akram's contract as Pakistan's bowling coach has been extended by two years, beginning February 2014. His previous contract, with a one-year tenure, had ended in August 2013 and Akram has been working on a monthly basis since then, due to uncertainty in the PCB leadership.

The PCB had advertised for the positions last month and constituted the coach committee to recommend names after evaluating the applications. The committee met at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore to select the probables and suggested the PCB take a final call on the selection.

"I am happy that no foreigner has applied for the job and it's not surprising at all," Akram said after the meeting. "We have been favouring foreign coaches in the past but it's time to promote our own coaches who have been working for long. Our recommendations are merely on the basis of merit and according to cricket sense, which eventually will prove beneficial for the country in the longer run."

ESPNcricinfo has learnt that Mohsin Khan and Waqar Younis are among the contenders for head coach.

Mohsin served as the interim coach for five months in 2011-12 and in this period Pakistan beat England 3-0 in the UAE. He was replaced by Whatmore in March 2012. Waqar was appointed coach of the national team in March 2010. Under his guidance, Pakistan reached the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 in West Indies and won the Test and ODI series in New Zealand. Waqar's time as coach was checkered by the spot-fixing controversy and Zulqarnain Haider's move to England after receiving death threats.

In the past, Pakistan was coached by former players until Richard Pybus took over as the first foreign coach in 1999. Since then, Bob Woolmer, Geoff Lawson, Whatmore and Fountain have served coaching roles.