Arthur to accompany Pakistan squad in Afghanistan series, Asia Cup

LAHORE: Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur will accompany the national side for their upcoming three-match One-day International series against Afghanistan and the subsequent Asia Cup, the country’s cricket board announced on Friday.

It will be the first time Arthur will be a part of the Pakistan dressing room since he was appointed in the directorial role in April as he continued to serve as the head coach of English county team Derbyshire.

Pakistan’s player support personnel — which was handpicked by Arthur — however, will remain unchanged from their recent Test tour of Sri Lanka, that saw the team complete a 2-0 series sweep over the islanders.

Grant Bradburn will continue his duties as the head coach while Arthur’s fellow South Africans Andrew Puttick and Morne Morkel will carry on as the respective batting and bowling coaches.

New Zealander Bradburn will have local coach Abdul Rehman as his assistant while Rehan-ul-Haq has been retained as the team manager. Maqbool Ahmad Babri, a psychologist, will also travel with the Pakistan squad in the two assignements.

The Afghanistan series will be held from Aug. 22-26 while the Asia Cup is set to be co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka from Aug. 30 to Sept. 17.

Player support personnel: Rehan-ul-Haq (team manager), Mickey Arthur (team director), Grant Bradburn (head coach), Andrew Puttick (batting coach), Morne Morkel (bowling coach), Aftab Khan (fielding coach), Abdul Rehman (assistant coach), Dr Sohail Saleem (team doctor), Drikus Saaiman (strength and conditioning coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi (media manager), Lt Col Usman Anwari (retd) (security manager), Ammar Ahsan (digital content producer, only for Asia Cup), Maqbool Ahmad Babri (psychologist), Talha Ejaz (analyst), Malang Ali (masseur).