Saqlain Mushtaq joins England team as spin bowling consultant

In 2012, England became the first team to win a Test series against India in India since 2004. Arguably the main heroes of that tour were the spin twins, Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar. Alastair Cook and company did their job by putting on the runs but it was these two spinners who did the job of running through the famed Indian batting line-up and picking up 20 wickets.

Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, Swann has retired, Panesar has gone into oblivion and England have tried but failed to fill the void with a number of spinners. In the recent tour to India with the exception of last 2 Tests, English spinners gave a good account of themselves. Much of that credit for that success went to their newly hired spin bowling consultant, former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq who had a short stint with Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid during the tour.

And now according to reports, Mushtaq is close to being appointed as the spin bowling consultant of the English team for the next two years. He will now work with England senior team as well as England Lions (‘A’ Side) and U19 team so that he can work with seniors as well as nurture budding talents.

ECB has confirmed that Saqlain’s job is on a consultancy basis and not full-time. He will work together with ECB’s lead spin bowling coach Peter Such. “ECB has hired my services for 2 years and I have to work 100 days a year with them. My main duty will be with the England Cricket Team but I will also work with young and rising spinners in English cricket.” Saqlain told Dawn News.

He previously had coaching roles with New Zealand and West Indies so it was bound to be asked if he considered working for his country whom he represented in 218 International games. To that, Mushtaq answered: “If people ask why Saqlain has not worked with the PCB yet, then they should redirect their questions to the PCB,”

– Written by Sachin Sourav