Sri Lanka appoint Pakistan's World Cup winner as bowling coach ahead of T20 World Cup

Sri Lanka have roped in former Pakistan bowler Aaqib Javed as their fast-bowling coach, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced on Saturday (March 16).

The 51-year-old has been given a short-term contract as SLC announced that the former bowler will work with Sri Lanka until the completion of this year’s T20 World Cup. The highly-anticipated ICC T20 World Cup 2024 is scheduled to be played from June 1 to 29 in the West Indies and USA. Sri Lanka are eyeing their second T20 World Cup title and first since 2014.

“We warmly welcome Aaqib and believe that his immense international experience, both in playing and coaching, will help our bowlers come into good shape ahead of the upcoming major international competitions, such as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup,” said Ashley De Silva, CEO, SLC.

Aaqib Javed will start working with the Sri Lankan team with immediate effect. The former fast-bowler represented Pakistan in 163 ODIs and 22 Tests and picked up a total of 236 wickets in international cricket. He was a part of the Pakistan squad that won the ODI World Cup in 1992.

After his playing career, Javed has been busy plying his trade as a coach. In 2004, he was the coach when Pakistan won the Under-19 World Cup. He has worked with several senior national teams as well. Javed has served as the bowling coach of the Pakistan team as well as the coach of the UAE team. He has also worked with the Afghanistan national team in a development role.

He was the bowling coach when Pakistan won the 2009 T20 World Cup in England. At present, he is plying his trade as the Director of Cricket Operations and Head Coach of PSL outfit Lahore Qalandars.

Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup 2024:

A total of 20 teams will be participating in T20 World Cup 2024. The 20 teams have been divided into four groups of five teams each and Sri Lanka are in Group D along with the Netherlands, Nepal, South Africa, and Bangladesh.

They will open their campaign against South Africa on June 3. Two of the five teams will qualify for the Super Eight and Sri Lanka will be fancying their chances of progressing ahead of the group stage.