Mohsin Khan appointed interim coach

Mohsin Khan, Pakistan's chief selector, will serve as the team's interim coach for the series against Sri Lanka beginning later this month. Mohsin steps in to fill the vacancy created by Waqar Younis' departure after the tour of Zimbabwe as the PCB is in the process of appointing a full-time coach. Ijaz Ahmed will be the team's assistant coach.

The PCB committee tasked with finding the new head coach had shortlisted five names for the position out of a list of thirty-seven applicants. Twelve foreign and 25 local coaches had applied for the job. Those in contention for the top job reportedly include Dean Jones, Dermot Reeve and Aaqib Javed. The committee hadn't finalised on a candidate, though, in time to take over before the Test, ODI and Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka in the UAE.

Mohsin was appointed chief selector in March 2010 and was also involved in the PCB's fast-track coaching program at National Cricket Academy, where he coached batsmen. Colonel Naushad Ali will take charge as associate manager for the Sri Lanka series and the tour of Bangladesh. He will function as manager for the Tests against Sri Lanka, though, in the absence of Naveed Akram Cheema, who will take over as manager for the limited-overs leg. . Cheema, a PCB governing board member and also the managing director of WAPDA, was appointed manger for the Zimbabwe series, replacing Intikhab Alam.

The Pakistan squad will assemble in Lahore for a pre-series camp between November 10 and 13.