Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood has been appointed England’s assistant bowling coach for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Pakistan starting from 28th August in Manchester.
On Tuesday (August 18), the England and Wales Cricket Board have confirmed Mahmood’s appointment as assistant bowling coach while announcing that the assistant coach Graham Thorpe will assume the head coach role for the three-match T20I series against Pakistan.
Mahmood, who was Surrey’s player-coach before joining Pakistan's coaching staff in 2016, has joined England’s coaching staff which has Paul Collingwood as assistant coach while Marcus Trescothick is the batting coach.
The ECB stated while announcing a 14-strong squad for the T20I series: “Jon Lewis will be the bowling coach and is supported by former Pakistan international and bowling coach Azhar Mahmood.”
Noteworthy, Mahmood has represented Pakistan in 143 ODIs and 21 Test matches and was Pakistan’s bowling coach from 2016 to 2019 when Mickey Arthur was the head coach.
The former all-rounder is not the first Pakistani to work as a coach for England as Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed have also done similar roles in the past.
Here’s England squad for Pakistan T20Is:
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, and David Willey.
Reserves: Pat Brown, Liam Livingstone, Reece Topley
Here’s Vitality IT20 Series Schedule:
1st IT20 v Pakistan: Friday 28 August at Emirates Old Trafford
2nd IT20 v Pakistan: Sunday 30 August at Emirates Old Trafford
3rd IT20 v Pakistan: Tuesday 1 September at Emirates Old Trafford
(With ECB Inputs)
