Mushtaq Ahmad will teach spin tricks to Pakistani bowlers

Lahore: Acting on the recommendation of the coach selection committee, the Chairman PCB Najam Sethi has appointed former Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed as the national spin bowling coach with immediate effect.

Mushtaq signed the contract with PCB Monday morning and has taken charge of his position.

Until recently Mushtaq was holding a similar position with the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The coach selection committee, comprising Moin Khan, Intikhab Alam and Haroon Rashid, had also shortlisted former off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq and was in communication with him prior to finalizing its recommendation in favour of Mushtaq.

Zaheer Abbas, Special Adviser to Chairman PCB, and chief coach Waqar Younis too concurred with the committee’s recommendation.

At his prime, Mushtaq was considered one of the top three leg-break googly bowlers, claiming 185 Test wickets along with 161 ODI scalps. His greatest achievement in first class cricket, where he took 100-plus wickets for five successive seasons for Sussex in the early 2000, was winning the county its first Championship ever in 2003, also spearheading the feat in 2006 and 2007.