PCB name Azhar Mahmood as Pakistan bowling coach

Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood, who held the post of bowling coach for Pakistan previously in the Asia Cup T20 and the World T20 earlier this year, has been reappointed as the next bowling coach by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). During his stint with the team, Pakistan bowling fared well but failed to win matches for them.

Pakistan failed to reach the finals of Asia Cup T20 and won only one match in the World T20 that against Bangladesh and were ousted from the league stages of the tournament. Mahmood, who formerly represented the Pakistan National Team in 21 Tests and 141 ODIs, had a contract as the bowling coach which ended after he assisted the team in the England series this summer.

The Dawn had previously quoted A PCB official previously told the Dawn, that the Pakistan Head Coach Mickey Arthur had suggested some foreign replacements, but none of them worked out due to financial or availability issues.

The Pakistani Board finally decided to rope in Mahmood after seeing his previous stint with the team. An official was quoted saying, “Azhar’s first task will be the Test series against New Zealand starting from November 17.” While in the national team, Azhar had bagged 39 wickets and scored 900 runs in the 21 Tests he played. He also snared 123 wickets and scored 1521 runs in the 141 ODIs that he appeared for the team.

Also read- Mitchell Starc raring to ‘crank it up’ against visiting Proteas

In the New Zealand series, Pakistan will be playing 2 Test matches, the first at Hagley Oval, Christchurch from November 17-21 and the second at Seddon Park, Hamilton from November 25-29.

Pakistan team for the New Zealand series:

Misbah-ul-Haq (C), Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam, Sharjeel Khan, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan, Imran Khan.