Lahore, Aug 26: A day after their humiliating 10 wickets loss against Bangladesh in the First Test in Rawalpindi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday named five cricket icons as mentors of five teams for the upcoming Champions Cup domestic tournament.
The decision is understood to be a long-term initiative to strengthen the domestic cricket setup in Pakistan.
Among the five stalwarts named by the PCB are former Pakistan captain and fast bowler Waqar Younis, former skipper and batting mainstay Misbah-ul-Haq. Former captains Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed also featured in the five-men list. The fifth mentor named by the PCB is spin icon Saqlain Mushtaq.
The five former cricket greats have been appointed as mentors on three-year contracts. The PCB which announced their appointments, stated that the step is a transparent and robust recruitment process
It can be recalled that Waqar recently worked as PCB advisor on cricket affairs, while Saqlain Mushtaq is a former head coach of the national team. Moreover, Misbah and Waqar had coaching stints with the national team.
It is expected that the first assignment of the mentors in the PCB Domestic Cricket Season 2024-25 will be the Champions One-Day Cup, which will be held in Faisalabad from September 12-29.
Recently, the PCB had made it mandatory for all top players of the country to turn up for the 50-overs domestic competition.
With the Champions Trophy and ODI World Cup coming up, PCB's decision to ask senior players to play domestic cricket, seems to be a timely and right step for the future.
