Umar Gul. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Pakistan Cricket Board has announced the team of support-staff that would accompany the players to the UAE where they are scheduled to play three T20Is with Afghanistan. The series will commence on March 24 with the first match scheduled to be played in Sharjah.
Pakistan Cricket Board has announced the appointment of Abdul Rehman and Umar Gul in important positions ahead of the series. While Abdul Rehman will join the team as the head coach, former fast bowler Umar Gul has been appointed as the bowling coach of Pakistan for the three-match T20I series.
Abdul Rehman is an established coach who has been taking care of the coaching duties at the domestic level. He has a lot of success under his belt, from winning the National T20 and Pakistan Cup to sharing the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy with Central Punjab as the head coach of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He also won two National T20s as the head coach of Peshawar Panthers and was Peshawar Zalmi’s assistant coach when they won the HBL Pakistan Super League in 2017. He was also the coach of Pakistan’s U-19 team when they played against Bangladesh in November last year.
The former Pakistan pacer Umar Gul was Afghanistan’s bowling coach in the recent ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2022. As an active player between 2007 and 2016, he took 85 wickets at an average of 16.97 in 60 T20Is.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Majeed have been retained as batting and fielding coaches, respectively.
Complete list of player support personnel
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has released the complete list of support staff for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan later this month.
Mansoor Rana (team manager), Abdul Rehman (head coach), Umar Gul (bowling coach), Mohammad Yousuf (batting coach), Abdul Majeed (fielding coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Talha Ijaz (analyst), Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi (media and digital manager) and Drikus Saaimon (strength and conditioning coach)
Pakistan squad for the upcoming series
Shadab Khan (captain) (Islamabad United), Abdullah Shafique (Lahore Qalandars), Azam Khan (Islamabad United), Faheem Ashraf (Islamabad United), Iftikhar Ahmed (Quetta Gladiators), Ihsanullah (Multan Sultans), Imad Wasim (Karachi Kings), Mohammad Haris (Peshawar Zalmi), Mohammad Nawaz (Quetta Gladiators), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Islamabad United), Naseem Shah (Quetta Gladiators), Saim Ayub (Peshawar Zalmi), Shan Masood (Multan Sultans), Tayyab Tahir (Karachi Kings), Zaman Khan (Lahore Qalandars)
Reserve players – Abrar Ahmed (Islamabad United), Haseebullah (Peshawar Zalmi) and Usama Mir (Multan Sultans)