Former Pakistan quick and UAE men’s head coach Aaqib will continue to serve as a senior member of the Pakistan men’s selection committee and “will be assigned additional responsibilities after the conclusion” of the Champions Trophy, the PCB said in a statement on Monday.

The PCB added that it “will initiate the recruitment process for a permanent white-ball head coach” with the aim of completing the appointment before the end of the Champions Trophy, which is set to run from February 19 to March 9.

At a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium on Monday, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said, “We have temporarily asked Aaqib Javed to take over as coach until the Champions Trophy. We don’t want to act too quickly to bring in another coach. who has not right.So this three month gap will work Aaqib [in that position]. He will definitely work on other things, but we asked him to work for three months as the head coach and then we will see about the other things he will do.

Aaqib continuing to be on the selection committee puts the PCB’s coaching set-up in the unusual position that the interim white-ball coach has an influence on selection across formats, while the full-time red-ball coach has no influence on selection for the Test side

“It’s only for [Aaqib to be only] white-ball [coach] and only [in an] temporary [capacity]. We will begin the process of looking for a head coach within the next 10-15 days so that we can search and find a good head coach.”

Aaqib continuing to be on the selection committee puts the PCB’s coaching set-up in the unusual position where the interim white-ball coach has a say in selection across formats, while the full-time red-ball coach has no say. in selection for the test page.

The decision to hand Aaqib white-ball coaching duties at such a critical stage of white-ball cricket for Pakistan underlines how rapid the speed of Aaqib’s ascent has been. Until a few weeks ago, he was the Lahore Qalandars’ long-serving coach and director of cricket operations, where he had a mixed record; he led the team to back-to-back PSL titles but also saw several bottom finishes, including earlier this season.

When he was appointed as a member of the selection committee, he was considered by the PCB top brass to be the mastermind behind the implementation of spin-friendly pitches against England to turn that series around. He resigned from the Qalandars to focus on the PCB, where he was initially seen as the favorite to be appointed as the director of the National Cricket Academy. He served a stint as Sri Lanka’s bowling coach earlier this year, but now begins his highest-profile challenge.

The tour of Australia, where Pakistan won the ODI series but lost the T20Is, ends today and Pakistan will next play three ODIs and three T20Is in Zimbabwe (November 24 to December 5) before travel to South Africa. In South Africa, they will first play three T20Is (December 10 to 14) and then three ODIs (December 17 to 22) before the two Tests. Pakistan then play a two-Test series at home against the West Indies (January 16 to 28) before hosting New Zealand and South Africa in a short ODI tri-series just before the Champions Trophy.