Dubai: Pakistan skipper Safraz Ahmad will lead Bengal Tigers in the upcoming T10 Cricket League in December at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The team will be coached by former Pakistan pace ace, captain and coach Waqar Younis.
Sarfraz, who had captained Pakistan to Champions Trophy title triumph recently, has proved to be a smart leader in limited overs cricket. Younis carries with him not only his experience as captain and coach but also knowledge of Sharjah, where he grew up as a young boy and made his One-day international debut.
Announcing the appointments, Anis Sajan, one of the co-owners of Bengal Tigers and Managing Director of Danube, said: “We are thrilled over having Safraz as our captain and Waqar as coach. I have closely interacted with Waqar when he was coach of the Pakistan team and we both have a strong bonding and moreover he is an experienced coach too. Our local bonding will help our team”.
Referring to Sarfraz, Anis said: “Sarfraz is a young captain and has done very well for both Pakistan team and the Quetta Gladiators in Pakistan Super League [PSL] in the short format and his experience of playing in Sharjah will be a great boost for the whole team.”
Incidentally, Safraz had played in domestic cricket for Danube team owned by Sajan during the early period of his career. “We have made the announcements early because the tournament is just one-and-half months away and it’s important to be ready with the captain and the Head Coach as they are the two key people who will be running the show,” said Sajan. Bengal Tigers have already appointed Australian John Gloster as the physiotherapist and Girish Dongre as the Team Manager and Maroof Majumdaar as the Media Manager. Gloster was Team India physiotherapist from 2005 to 2008 and also worked with Bangladesh team for four years. He was also the physiotherapist for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and for Lahore Qalandars in the PSL.
“We are hoping to get the best players during the Players Draft, to be held on November 5,” said Sajan, who was recently the mentor of the Indian team that played the Indoor World Cup here.
