Abdul Rehman has been named as interim head coach for the upcoming T20 series against Afghanistan. Pakistan have named Umar Gul as the bowling coach and Mohammad Yousuf as the batting coach for the three-match series. On the other hand, Abdul Majeed will be the fielding coach for the series.
Earlier, Yousuf was named as the interim head coach but the Pakistan Cricket Board clarified that he will continue to be only the batting coach. PCB Chairman Najam Sethi announced the list of support staff on his social media handle.
Pakistan are scheduled to fly to Dubai on March 22 with the first T20I to be played on March 24. The remaining two games will be played on March 26 and 27.
Rehman who has more than a decade's experience has worked as head coach with several domestic teams including Southern Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He is currently the assistant coach of Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League.
After he retired from all formats of cricket, Gul took up the role of the bowling coach of the Quetta Gladiators in the PSL. He also had a brief stint with Afghanistan as their bowling coach.
PCB has rested senior players including Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi due to workload management. They also dropped Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, and Khushdil Shah from the squad. The uncapped players to find a place in the team are Ihsanullah, Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir, and Zaman Khan. Notably, a few players were recalled for the series and they are Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, and Imad Wasim.
Pakistan's squad:
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 Junior (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)
