The Pakistan Cricket Board are on the lookout for a new full-time head coach after the interim coach Aaqib Javed decided not to continue. His contract came to an end after Pakistan’s poor performance in the Champions Trophy 2025. Reports in the Pakistani media suggest that Mike Hesson, former Director of Cricket for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), is a top contender to take over the coaching duties of the Pakistan national team.
Hesson led Islamabad United to the Pakistan Super League (PSL) title last season as a head coach. His experience in the franchise and international cricket makes him a strong contender for the job. The report claims that PCB has already contacted Hesson and they are also in talks with a few other foreign coaches, including Australian Simon Katich and New Zealand’s current batting coach Luke Ronchi.
Mike Hesson set to takeover as Pakistan’s head coach.
— D A N I S H • K U M A R 🌴 (@shimar84) April 22, 2025
Poor chap will be caught up in a terrible PCB’s whirlpool soon and never get paid for his efforts and dues when leaving.
Typical Pakistani way of using, abusing and stealing from people. pic.twitter.com/gLWtfXxXvV
Hesson has an impressive coaching resume while guiding New Zealand from 2012 to 2018, succeeding John Wright. He also has experience of coaching in high-pressure tournaments like the Indian Premier League.
The talks are still at an early stage. Notably, PCB had offered the coaching role to all three cricketers earlier, but they turned down the offer due to their other commitments at the time.
Mike hesson is a strong contender for Pakistan cricket team next coach. pic.twitter.com/bdgy9GY9L7
— Dr Asim Ali (@AsimAliikhan) April 22, 2025
Pakistan’s performance has taken a hit in recent months, and they finished at the bottom in the latest World Test Championship cycle after losing to the West Indies. Also, they failed to win a single match in the Champions Trophy and managed to script only one victory in nine white-ball matches during their tour of New Zealand in March-April 2025.
