KARACHI: Former spinner Saqlain Mushtaq is likely to continue as head coach of Pakistan for the upcoming home series against Australia in March-April.
Saqlain's future with the team was under a shadow recently when he resigned as head coach of international player development at the High Performance Centre while his interim tenure as head coach of the national team also ended with the tour to Bangladesh.
A reliable source in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that Saqlain was most likely to continue as head coach for the Australia series.
"He will be asked to continue as interim coach until the PCB makes a final call on who will be permanent coach of the national team after the Australia series," the source said.
The source added that the PCB Chairman, Ramiz Raja had already spoken to Saqlain about the Australia series and the former spinner is most likely to also get a pay raise as head coach.
"Saqlain was reluctant to continue working with the PCB over some pay disputes but apparently that matter is now being settled. Saqlain had basically asked for a salary close to what others before him were getting," the source said.
Saqlain was brought in as interim head coach for the home series against New Zealand and England last year which didn't transpire but then guided the team to the semi final of the World T20 Cup in UAE and also a victorious tour of Bangladesh where Pakistan won all Test and T20 matches.
Saqlain was appointed interim coach while working as head coach at the high performance centre after Misbah-ul-Haq was apparently asked to step down after returning from the West Indies tour in September.
The source said the PCB had advertised different coaching positions but until now had neither shortlisted the candidates, who had applied, nor set up any time for the interviews and the whole process is likely to be completed after the Australian series.
