PCB appoints Yasir Arafat as high performance coach ahead of T20 series in New Zealand

Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday appointed former all-rounder, Yasir Arafat as the high-performance coach of the national team for next month's 5-match T20 series against New Zealand.

Yasir will reach Lahore from London and will leave with the Pakistan white-ball players for New Zealand where five matches are scheduled from January 12.

The Pakistani selectors have already announced a 17-member squad for the T20 series in New Zealand which is seen as a preparation for the ICC World Cup in West Indies and USA next year.

Yasir, who had applied for the post of bowling coach earlier this year when the PCB had approached Mickey Arthur to take over as head coach, is a qualified coach and has worked in New Zealand and England.

A source said that Yasir will replace Simon Helmut, who is the high-performance coach of the Pakistan team for the ongoing Test series in Australia.

"Yasir’s appointment came about on the recommendation of the national team’s director Muhammad Hafeez who is calling the shots in Australia even above captain, Shah Masood," the source said.

Yasir, who appeared in three Tests and some white-ball games for Pakistan, was a member of the squad that won the ICC World T20 in England in 2009.

This will be the fifth appointment of a coach with the Pakistan team since Hafeez was named Director of the team.

Hafeez has seen the appointments of Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal as the team’s fast and spin bowling coaches and then the short-term appointments of Adam Hollioake and Simon Helmut as batting coach and high-performance coach of the team in Australia for the three-Test series.