Pakistan have roped in Younis Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed as the batting and spin-bowling coaches respectively for the upcoming tour of England. Khan and Ahmed will join head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis for the tour – scheduled for August-September – comprising three Tests and as many T20Is.
This is Khan’s first appointment with the PCB since his retirement in 2017. The board was earlier interested in roping him in to work at the development level at the NCA but those talks didn’t materialise. He was recently asked to give a pep talk to players on video in lockdown and this appointment, according to the PCB, is to provide Misbah and Younis “the necessary and essential resources that can help them further uplift the performance of the side”.
“For me, there has never been a bigger honour and a better feeling than to represent my country and I feel privileged to have been again offered the opportunity to serve it for a challenging but exciting tour of England,” Khan said in a statement issued by the PCB. “The Pakistan side includes some immensely talented cricketers who have the potential to achieve greater heights. Together with Misbah-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed and Waqar Younis, we will try to make them better and prepare them as best as we can with on and off field coaching and guidance.
“I have never been shy of sharing my experiences and knowledge, and I think this particular tour provides me with an ideal opportunity where I can spend post-training time with the players to engage with them on batting techniques, bowler assessments, mental toughness exercises besides talking them through with scenario planning.
“We all know English conditions demand not only precise technique but patience and discipline, and if you can master these, then you will not only excel in England but anywhere in the world. With the quality we have in the team, I think we have a good chance to produce good results if we prepare properly, get our processes right and hit the ground running as soon as we land.”
More to follow…