The Pakistan Cricket Board on Thursday appointed former spinner Saqlain Mushtaq as the Head of International Player Development as part of the prestigious High-Performance Centre's restructuring. The board has also appointed Grant Bradburn as Head of High-Performance Coaching while LUMS graduate Asser Malik has been confirmed as High-Performance Operations Manager. The three appointments have been made following a robust recruitment process that included presentations by the candidates, followed by interviews conducted by a high-powered panel that also included members of the PCB Cricket Committee.
"It is an honour and a privilege to represent Pakistan. In this background, I am delighted to have been offered this exciting opportunity to work on skilful and exciting young cricketers and help them grow in their careers," Saqlain said in an official statement.
"I have previously worked with a diverse group of cricketers and helped them improve their cricket. I am confident I will be able to translate all my knowledge and experience in the High-Performance Centre and help the PCB raise the bar and set new benchmarks," he added.
Saqlain played international cricket between 1995 and 2004 and will be responsible for identifying, developing and preparing players so that they could go on to become world-class cricketers.
Saqlain, known for introducing the Doosra, at the age of 18 established a record for the most ODI wickets in a calendar year (65).
He then did even better the following year, setting a mark (69) that still stands. His impact was so great that he became the fastest bowler in history in terms of time (one year and 225 days) to reach the landmark of 100 ODI wickets, and to this day, no one else has got there in less than two years.
Saqlain has previously worked as a spin bowling coach with Bangladesh, West Indies and England men's cricket teams, apart from serving as a consultant for PCB, Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket.
On the other hand, Bradburn is presently the fielding coach of the Pakistan men's national team, a role he took in September 2018 following a successful coaching stint with the Scotland men's national cricket team.
Bradburn will be responsible for raising the overall standard of player support personnel across all the high-performance centres of the country.
The PCB will announce Bradburn''s replacement in the men''s national cricket team in due course.