Tag: Saqlain Mushtaq

  • Mickey Arthur set to return as Pakistan’s cricket team head coach, hints Najam Sethi

    Mickey Arthur set to return as Pakistan’s cricket team head coach, hints Najam Sethi

    Mickey Arthur is set to return as Pakistan men cricket team’s head coach for the second time, PCB’s Chairman Najam Sethi hinted on Monday.

    The South African will replace Saqlain Mushtaq whose contract expires next month.

    However, Mickey Arthur’s contract as head coach is still being negotiated. Talking about the hiring, Najam Sethi said at a press conference, “I am personally in negotiations with Mickey and we have resolved 90% of issues,” adding that he has appointed former Test cricketer Haroon Rasheed as the new chief selector, replacing former all-rounder Shahid Afridi who held the post on an interim basis.

    “Hopefully, we will very soon share the news that Mickey will be joining us and I’d like him to build his own team of coaches once he is here,” Sethi told the members of the press.

    Formerly the coach for South Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka, Arthur was in charge of the Pakistan team from 2016 to 2019 when the team won the 2017 Champions Trophy and became the top-ranked T20 team in the world.

    The Johannesburg-born 54-year-old currently has a long-term contract with Derbyshire.

  • Babar Azam proposes a 20 per cent raise in cricketers’ salaries

    Babar Azam proposes a 20 per cent raise in cricketers’ salaries

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) met with officials, including captain Babar Azam and head coach Saqlain Mushtaq, to review the specifics of the new central contracts.

    As the players’ current central contracts will be expiring on June 30, discussions on new central contracts have begun at PCB Headquarters.

    According to sources, Babar Azam and Saqlain Mushtaq have proposed a 20 per cent raise in salaries. They have also provided opinions on the cricketers’ potential and participation in future plans.

    The details for the next cricket season, including contract contracts, budgets, and player categories, were discussed at the conference. The increase in monthly compensation for centrally contracted players was also a topic of discussion.

    Read more: Shoaib Akhtar reveals he was his mother’s driver for 11 years, pays tribute

    The new contracts will be finalised soon by the PCB, but the official list of new central contracts will be issued on July 1st. Major changes are predicted in the new central contracts, according to reports, with numerous superstars losing their contracts.

  • Babar Azam is the best player in the world, says Saqlain Mushtaq

    Babar Azam is the best player in the world, says Saqlain Mushtaq

    Head Coach of Pakistan cricket team Saqlain Mushtaq has said that Babar Azam is the best player in the world.

    The head coach of the national team said that when cricket started, it was his dream to play for Pakistan. He wanted to serve Pakistan even after retirement.

    While talking about Australia’s tour to Pakistan, he said that the arrival of the Australian cricket team in Pakistan is welcome, for which he is grateful to Australia and Government of Pakistan. Saqlain said the whole nation is looking forward to this tour.

    Mushtaq said that they will form their own team keeping in view the Australian team, the home series is beneficial for the national side but Australia is the top team at the moment, they are planning for the series.

    In response to a question, the head coach said: “Captain Babar Azam is the best player in the world, he has given very good performances in the past also, Babar Azam plays every format and bowling well.”

    He said that if there are no good spinners now, then there will be in the future. “My thinking about spinners is very positive.” He also added that we will see which pitch will support us.

    Talking about Mohammad Yousuf, he added that he believes in his expertise, he is also working for high performance center. “We have to complete our preparations.”

    The Australian cricket team is scheduled to tour Pakistan in March and April 2022 to play three Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODIs), and one Twenty20 International (T20I) match.

  • Saqlain to continue as Pakistan head coach, Shaun Tait appointed fast-bowling coach

    Saqlain to continue as Pakistan head coach, Shaun Tait appointed fast-bowling coach

    Former Pakistan cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq will continue as Pakistan’s head coach on an interim basis for another 12 months, while the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has also named former Australia quick Shaun Tait as fast-bowling coach for 12 months.

    Read More – Pakistan announces squad for Test series against Australia

    Former Pakistan batter Mohammad Yousuf has been roped in as batting coach for the Australia series, which is scheduled to begin on March 4 in Rawalpindi.

    Saqlain, along with Abdul Razzaq, was appointed as interim coach following Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis’ resignations in September last year.

    The PCB had given an advertisement for five coaching positions — national high performance, batting, bowling, power-hitting and fielding — in December last year and had set a deadline for application as late January.

    As per reports, Tait is the only one to have taken up the position via this process for now, the other appointments were made on the basis of internal arrangements — instead of hiring new coaches based on the advertisement, the PCB promoted coaches from the high-performance centre to the national set-up on an interim basis. There were at least 12 applications for the various coaching roles overall but only the individuals who had applied for the role of bowling coach were shortlisted and interviewed, out of which Tait was finalised.

    Read More – Australia announces full-strength squad for Pakistan tour

    Since Ramiz Raja’s appointment as the chairman of PCB, there have been many changes in the set-up starting with Misbah and Waqar leaving their roles ahead of the home series against New Zealand. Saqlain, who was the head of international players’ development at the high-performance centre in Lahore at that time, was promoted as head coach but his initial tenure ended with the Bangladesh tour in December.

    Earlier, Saqlain had submitted his resignation following the tour but Ramiz persuaded him to continue in the role for another year, with at least eight assignments including the T20 World Cup and Asia Cup coming up. While Yousuf and Abdul Majeed (fielding coach) have been appointed just for the upcoming series, it is understood the PCB will make assessments during the Australia series before appointing anyone on a full-time basis.

    The position of a power-hitting coach is yet to be filled. While it was rumored earlier that former captain Shahid Afridi will be joining the national side for the role of power-hitting coach.

  • Shoaib Akhtar left England matches for Pakistan to give his mother a bag of flour when she needed it

    Shoaib Akhtar left England matches for Pakistan to give his mother a bag of flour when she needed it

    Veteran Pakistani actor and comedian Sohail Ahmed had an interesting story to share about former fast bowler of the national cricket team Shoaib Akhtar and his unwavering love for his late mother.

    “I want to tell the next generation how Shoaib Akhtar loved and served his mother. He is one of a kind,” shared the legendary actor on his television show Hasb-e-Haal.

    “Let us provide the youth an example of how to respect and serve mothers,” he remarked, narrating a story first told by Saqlain Mushtaq, a former Pakistani cricketer and coach, about Akhter’s love for his mother.

    As per Sohail Ahmed, Akhtar along with his family devoured a mix of big quantity of flour which Shoaib had to get for his family.

    Quoting Mushtaq, Ahmed said that “Akhtar had left us in England while the matches were being played and had come to give wheat to his mother as she called him and informed him that she was running out of flour.”

    “He left the match and went to give flour,” said Mushtaq to Ahmed.

    Akhtar, according to the actor, expressed his love for his mother through actions and not just words. “He was an obedient child.”

  • ‘Clearly I’m home’: Saqlain Mushtaq shares video with daughters putting clips on his beard

    ‘Clearly I’m home’: Saqlain Mushtaq shares video with daughters putting clips on his beard

    Interim head coach of the national cricket team, Saqlain Mushtaq, recently shared a video on his social media in which he can be seen sitting on a couch and his daughters are putting small clips on his beard and hair.

    Sharing the video on Twitter, the former Pakistan spinner wrote: “Clearly… I’m home after a long three months of cricket serving the great Pakistan.”

    The former Test off-spinner was appointed as the interim head coach after Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis resigned from their posts. He was appointed only for the New Zealand home series, which was cancelled after the visiting team left Pakistan before playing any match. The Black Caps backed out of its tour due to security concerns minutes before the first match was scheduled to start at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

    Mushtaq was asked to continue in his role for the T20 Men’s World Cup as well as the series against Bangladesh and West Indies.

    Under Mushtaq’s tenure, Pakistan began an unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup till they were eliminated in the semi-final. Recently, the Men in Green also defeated Bangladesh on their home ground. While the national side also defeated West Indies with a clean sweep in the three-match T20I series in Karachi.

  • Shoaib Akhtar pokes fun at Saqlain Mushtaq after his daughter gives him a makeover

    Shoaib Akhtar pokes fun at Saqlain Mushtaq after his daughter gives him a makeover

    Legendary British-Pakistani cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq recently got a makeover from his young daughter and the proud dad was not afraid to post a video of himself showing off his daughter’s makeup skills.

    Saqlain’s daughter had not only used turquoise eyeshadow and pink lipstick on her dad but also made him into a redhead with a wig.

    Showing off his look, Mushtaq in the video said, “She is a makeup artist. We are in quarantine. A couple of years back, she did my makeup and I put it up on Twitter and you guys really liked it. And today she forcefully said to me she wants to play with me again and she brought all my new get up and did my makeup and my new wig, my new get up. Are you happy? She is very happy and we all are very happy. Stay at home, stay safe, look beautiful and enjoy with your loved ones.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-pt_bRH1S7/

    Most Twitter users lauded Saqlain for being a good sport.

    Meanwhile Shoaib Akhtar decided to poke fun at Mushtaq, as well as Wasim Akram who was also recently spotted sporting a wig.

    “Look what Quarantine has done to some people. Sigh,” joked Akhtar.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-rGigVnLRi/

    However, our national bhabhi, Shaniera Akram was quick to hit back at Akhtar. Shaniera posted a funny picture of Akhtar, adding that this was taken before quarantine.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-rkM80jR9Q/

    Earlier, Shaniera had also posted a video of Wasim getting his hair done by their daughter Aiyla.

    Are girl dads the best?