Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the team’s support staff for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan which includes the names of Abdul Rehman as interim head coach and former pacer Umar Gul as bowling coach. The announcement came on Wednesday morning that Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Majeed will retain their positions as batting coach and fielding coach, respectively.
Rehman, who is an experienced campaigner in domestic cricket with more than a decade’s coaching experience, is currently with Multan Sultan as an assistant coach in the Pakistan Super League. The veteran has also worked with Pakistan’s Under-19 team last year.
Shadab Khan will lead Pakistan’s new-look Twenty20 team against Afghanistan after selectors on Monday rested five senior players, including all-format captain Babar Azam, as part of its workload management.
@TheRealPCB announces Support Personnel for Sharjah T20Is. Abdul Rehman, Head Coach; Umar Gul, Bowling Coach; M Yousuf, Batting Coach; A Majeed, Fielding Coach; Drikus Simon, Trainer; Cliffe Deacon, Physio; Talha Ijaz, Analyst; Mansoor Rana, Manager; Ahsan Nagi, Media. #PAKvAFG
— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) March 14, 2023
Fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf, along with Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman, will also miss next week’s series in the United Arab Emirates. All three games are scheduled to be played in Sharjah on March 24, 26 and 27.
can’t express in words what a great honour this is for me,want to thank the PCB management and the chairman for their trust in me and giving me this opportunity to serve Pakistan. It is now time to make the most of my experience and do justice with this responsibility.
— Abdul Rehman 🇵🇰 (@AbdulRehmanCC) March 14, 2023
For more than a year, Babar and Rizwan have represented Pakistan in almost all the games in the three formats while Fakhar, Rauf and Afridi have battled injuries.
Chief selector Haroon Rasheed said that the selection committee wanted to enhance the pool of players with an eye on next year’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States.
Squad: Shadab Khan (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Zaman Khan.