Mohammad Hafeez unlikely to get long-term contract as Pakistan team director

Pakistan team director Muhammad Hafeez is unlikely to get a long-term contract from the PCB which is presently being run by the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (Sports) through its nominees. The former Test captain met with the acting Chairman of the board, election commissioner Shah Khawar, and the chief operating officer Salman Naseer in Lahore, to discuss the recent tours to Australia and New Zealand and about his contract. The former Chairman of the interim committee running the PCB affairs, Zaka Ashraf, had given Hafeez a one month contract as Director of the Pakistan team on the assurance that his contract would be extended to three years. But while the team was in New Zealand when Ashraf sent the contract to the ministry for approval he was told to hold it. Sources said that when Hafeez met with Khawar and Naseer after returning home he was told that his long-term contract was under review by the ministry but it was also conveyed to him that the ministry is not happy with his performances in Australia and New Zealand. The former captain was also conveyed that the final decision would be taken by the incoming Chairman now and they couldn’t give him any guarantees. Interestingly Hafeez’s one month contract had expired on December 15 while in Australia and he carried on working without pay. “Hafeez also reminded Naseer that his dues from the tour should be cleared no matter what the ministry or incoming Chairman decides,” one source said. “Hafeez showed interest in continuing as Director of the team but the response he got was not very encouraging,” the source added. Pakistan were whitewashed three nil in the Test series in Australia and lost the T20 series in New Zealand by 4-1. Mohsin Naqvi, presently the caretaker chief minister of Punjab who has been nominated by the ministry to replace Zaka on the PCB interim committee, is expected to roll back the number of appointments and decisions taken by Ashraf.