I Am Really Excited To Be Working With Them- Vernon Philander After Joining Pakistan As A Coaching Consultant

Former South African pacer Vernon Philander expressed excitement at the prospect of coaching the current crop of Pakistani players. Philander, who retired from Test cricket in 2020, was roped in by the Pakistan cricket team along with Matthew Hayden as coaching consultants for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

The duo will be part of the squad only for the big tournament. Philander has no prior experience in the coaching department but revealed that he was looking forward to working with Babar Azam’s men.

“Ramiz [Raja] obviously called me up and asked if I was interested in joining the Pakistan team. It is a huge opportunity, which I couldn’t turn down. It’s also really exciting to work with a group of skillful youngsters.”

“Mohammad Hasnain is a really talented young bowler, and of course, there’s the big guy Shaheen Shah Afridi. I saw quite a bit of them during the recent series against South Africa and I am really excited to be working with them,” the 36-year-old said.

“I would like to bring some form of consistency to this young attack” – Vernon Philander

Vernon Philander has primarily played Test cricket for the South African side and was one of the most consistent bowlers during his career. He hopes to bring that sort of consistency into the current Pakistan team, especially the young guns.

“It’s international cricket. There is always pressure, no matter which team you are a part of. I would like to think that I can add value in terms of bringing some form of consistency to this young attack.”

“They are an exciting group and they also want to head in a direction where they play an attacking brand of cricket which is exciting to be a part of,” he added.

Pakistan has appointed Saqlain Mushtaq and Abdul Razzaq as interim coaches of the team after Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis resigned from their coaching roles. Their first assignment will be a white-ball series against New Zealand starting on September 17.

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