We are hiring: Pakistan posts coach vacancy on LinkedIn, gets hilarious replies

Pakistan cricket's latest upheaval has spilled onto LinkedIn, where a fielding coach vacancy drew hilarious responses online, with fans poking fun at the board's chaotic Test overhaul and ongoing concerns over performance.PCB's Linkedin ad for fielding coach vacancy (Courtesy: X/Reuters)The Pakistan Cricket Board is in the spotlight once again. A day after sacking head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul and sending seven players home following their heavy defeat to England at Lord's, the PCB found another way to become the centre of attention.This time, it was LinkedIn.The board posted an advertisement for a fielding coach for Pakistan's men's national team, inviting applications from candidates with a Level II cricket coaching qualification and at least five years of experience in a similar role with elite players, national teams or franchise sides. The vacancy covers both red- and white-ball cricket.On any other day, a cricket board advertising a coaching vacancy would hardly qualify as news. But Pakistan cricket has not exactly had an ordinary week. "Looks like PCB's CV shortlist has run out, so they had to put up a public post just to make the recruitment process look merit-based," one social media user wrote. Screengrab from Linkedin Then, there were ones mocking the quality of fielding in Pakistan cricket. "Just gonna apply for it, who knows (I have worked in industrial automation for the last 13 years)," an X user wrote."#Interested. I have dropped 2 catches recentled," another wrote.And then came the simplest summary of the mood."Pakistan cricket really are the gift that keeps on giving aren't they?"One of the CVs shared in response was a parody application packed with digs at Pakistan's fielding woes, listing "post-drop facial-expression management" among its skills and even tracking "excuses per drop" as a key metric.The fictional applicant, Takla Ali Hazari, also promised expertise in turning "average hands into safe hands" and managing players "after dropped sitters". A parody CV of an applicant doing rounds on X The timing of the advertisement made the post even more irresistible.Pakistan had just lost the second Test at Lord's by 194 runs to fall 0-2 behind in the three-match series in England. The defeat followed an innings-and-103-run loss in the opening Test, meaning Pakistan had failed to score more than 200 in any of their four innings in the series. Their fielding had also come under scrutiny during the tour.The PCB responded by pressing the reset button, except that it did so with one Test still to play.Seven players were sent home, including Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq and Salman Ali Agha, while five uncapped players were brought into the squad alongside Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal. Sarfaraz was removed as head coach and replaced by white-ball coach Mike Hesson, while Umar Gul was replaced by Ashley Noffke.It was a dramatic response to a disastrous series, and one that immediately raised questions about planning and accountability. Former Pakistan players and coaches criticised the scale and timing of the overhaul, with former captain Ramiz Raja describing it as a "panic button" reaction.Misbah-ul-Haq, who was part of the selection committee, has also offered his resignation following the sweeping changes.The irony, of course, is that the vacancy itself is hardly unusual. Pakistan have been without a full-time fielding coach since Shane McDermott resigned from the role in July. The PCB is simply trying to fill an important position, and the advertisement lays out fairly standard professional requirements for an international coaching job. But in Pakistan cricket, timing is everything.A job advertisement might normally disappear into the endless LinkedIn scroll. Instead, it arrived in the middle of a Test tour that has already seen a coach removed, seven players sent home and a new-look squad assembled for a match that begins on September 9. No wonder the internet noticed."Why are you posting this here?" one user joked. "Just directly call some retired military or army personnel for the job."Another asked, with equal sarcasm: "I'm shocked! Is the hiring for jobs in the PCB being done purely on merit? Doesn't recommendation or influence work here?"Pakistan cricket, meanwhile, has a Test match to play. The third Test at Edgbaston offers the team a chance to avoid a series whitewash and, perhaps, provide some substance to a week dominated by upheaval.For now, though, the PCB's search for a fielding coach has become the latest episode in a tour that seems determined to produce headlines long before the next ball is bowled.- EndsPublished By: Akshay RameshPublished On: Sep 2, 2026 16:06 IST