PCB names Abdul Rehman as interim head coach for Afghanistan T20Is, Umar Gul to serve as bowling coach

Umar Gul. (Photo by Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

Ahead of the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, Pakistan have named Abdul Rehman as their interim head coach. On the other hand, Umar Gul will be seen serving as their bowling coach in the series as PCB are yet to find a replacement for Shaun Tait. Meanwhile, Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Majeed will continue as batting and fielding coaches, respectively, after signing a new contract with the board.

Notably, Rehman has over a decade’s experience in domestic cricket and is also known as one of the most renowned scouts in the northern part of the country. He is currently working as an assistant coach of Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League and upon completing that, he will join the national squad.

Meanwhile, Umar Gul retired from international cricket in the year 2020 and was soon appointed as Afghanistan’s bowling coach for a brief period of time. Now, after parting ways with the team in December 2022, Gul expressed his desire to coach the Babar Azam-led side and two months later, PCB offered him one.

Meanwhile, PCB chief Najam Sethi took to Twitter to announce the support staff for the upcoming series.

“@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,” Sethi tweeted.

Notably, overseas recruitment manager Cliffe Deacon, the physiotherapist, and strength and conditioning coach Drikus Saaiman have managed to retain their contracts and will continue to work with the national team.

However, it is still unclear when PCB will appoint a full-time coaching staff. After coming to power, Najam Sethi wanted to bring back Mickey Arthur but due to his commitment with Derbyshire County as their head coach, the former cricketer couldn’t join the Pakistan team. He, however was appointed in a part-time consultancy role and was supposed to help PCB find proper coaching staff but nothing has developed so far.

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