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Sarfaraz Khan named as Pakistan head coach after Gillespie exit

Sarfaraz Khan, right, with the ICC Champions Trophy
Sarfaraz Khan, right, with the ICC Champions TrophyAkhtar Soomro / Reuters

Pakistan appointed former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed ⁠as head coach of their test team for the ‌two-match series in Bangladesh next month, ‌the country's cricket board ‌said on Saturday.

Since Australian Jason Gillespie ‌quit as Pakistan's red-ball coach ‌in December, Aaqib Javed and Azhar Mahmood temporarily guided the ‌team led by Shan Masood, who ⁠will ‌continue as captain in Bangladesh.

Sarfaraz, who ​led Pakistan to the Champions Trophy title in 2017, ​has worked with the under-19 team as well as Pakistan ⁠Shaheens after ​his retirement.

Pakistan have named four uncapped players - Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais and Muhammad ‌Ghazi Ghori - to their 16-member squad for the Bangladesh series starting in Dhaka on May 8th.

Sarfaraz's former teammate Umar Gul will join him in the setup as the bowling coach.

Pakistan test squad: Shan Masood (captain), Abdullah ‌Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais, ​Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, ‌Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Salman Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen ⁠Afridi.