PCB appoints Arafat as high performance coach

KARACHI: Pakistan appointed former allrounder Yasir Arafat its national cricket team high-performance coach on Tuesday, another staffing shake-up for the embattled side after a tumultuous year.

In September, Pakistan failed to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, before crashing out of the World Cup in the first round in India just two months later.

The World Cup flop already prompted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to replace team director Mickey Arthur and head coach Grant Bradburn, who had only taken over in April.

Arafat will take the helm from Simon Helmot who is coaching Pakistan through the ongoing Test series in Australia.

The PCB said Arafat will be part of team management for the upcoming five T20Is in New Zealand, slated for January 12-21.

While no tenure has been given for the 41-year-old, he is also likely to guide Pakistan to next year´s Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States.