Former Pakistani off spinner Saqlain Mushtaq has been roped in by the English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as a spin consultant, according to reports. The news of the bowler being offered a crucial role by ECB was doing the rounds when The Guardian’s Nick Hoult confirmed the news with a tweet. The English team is currently playing Sri Lanka in a bilateral Test series at home.
Mushtaq had a highly fruitful career for Pakistan from 1995 to 2004, where the off spinner picked up 288 wickets in just 169 ODIs and had 208 scalps in 49 tests against his name before he fell out of favour of the selectors. The 39-year-old was last seen in action in the Masters Champions League where he was still foxing the best batsmen with his off spinners.
England have been looking for a replacement for Graeme Swann since the off-spinner announced his shock retirement in the middle of the 2013 Ashes in Australia. Since then, England have groomed Moeen Ali for the role of team’s leading spinner. While the Birmingham born all-rounder has 65 wickets in 24 tests, his average of 39 reveals that he is still far away from donning the mantle of England’s leading Test spinner.
In such a scenario, Mushtaq’s experience and knowledge can work wonders for Ali as well as the likes of Adil Rashid and Simon Kerrigan. This is not the first time that ECB has sought the help of a former Pakistan great to bolster their spin department.
English cricket reaped benefits from their association with leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed who worked with the team for four years from 2004 to 2008 and helped Graeme Swann become a world class spinner. Besides, former England spinner and Glamorgan’s current coach Robert Croft also had joined the team for 12 days when England toured South Africa
Mushtaq is expected to join the English team when the team takes on Pakistan in a bilateral series at home. Pakistan, like other teams from the sub continent, have a great reputation at playing spin. Ali, however,had bowled admirably well in 2014 in the Test series against India.
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