Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Majeed will continue as batting and fielding coaches, respectively, while Abdul Rehman has been appointed interim head coach. Although Yousuf was first announced as the interim head coach before Najam Sethi, the PCB chairperson, came up with a tweet that featured the complete list of the coaching staff of the Pakistan team.
Similarly, former Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul has been roped in as the bowling coach. Gul, who bid farewell to all forms of cricket in 2020, immediately got into coaching when he took up the bowling coach’s role with Quetta Gladiators in the PSL last season. He had a brief stint with Afghanistan as well as their bowling coach.
Further, Cliffe Deacon, the physiotherapist, and Drikus Saaiman, the trainer, have retained their contracts. Additionally, Mansoor Rana, the Pakistan team manager, is also back on a short-term contract.
Notably, for the Afghanistan series, Pakistan have rested many of their senior players, including Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Haris Rauf. All-rounder Shadab Khan has been appointed captain, while Imad Wasim and Faheem Ashraf have been recalled in the T20I side. Also, Saim Ayub and Ihsanullah, who impressed one and all in PSL 2023, have received their maiden call-ups.
“@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,” tweeted Sethi.
Pakistan squad for the T20I series against Afghanistan:
Shadab Khan (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood, Tayab Tahir, Zaman Khan
Reserve players: Abrar Ahmed, Haseebullah, Usama Mir.
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