Daily Times

LAHORE: Abdul Rehman, a stalwart of the Pakistani domestic coaching circuit, has been promoted to Multan Sultans’ head coach after serving as the team’s assistant coach for the last five years. He replaces former Zimbabwe wicketkeeper-batter Andy Flower at the helm. Rehman, currently the assistant coach of Pakistan men’s team, had joined Multan in 2018. Under Flower and him, the team reached the final of the last three PSL editions and won the tournament in 2021.

“The past five years have been a great journey for the Multan Sultans and I am privileged to have been part of it,” Flower said. “When I agreed to join the Sultans, my first request was for Abdul Rehman to be my assistant coach. He is an exceptional coach and a consummate professional, and I am confident the team will benefit with him at the helm.” A month ago, Flower, who is one of the most decorated coaches in the game, was appointed head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL for a three-year term. Till the end of IPL 2023, he was head coach of Lucknow Super Giants and under him, the franchise made back-to-back playoffs in their first two years in the competition.

“It is an honour to be carrying forward Andy Flower’s legacy at the Multan Sultans,” Rehman said. “Together with our leadership team, our coaching and support teams, we look forward to taking Multan Sultans forward with passion and innovation.” Multan have also parted ways with Mushtaq Ahmed, who was their spin-bowling coach for the last four years. They have also brought on board Nathan Leamon as Multan’s director of strategy. Leamon had worked closely with England across all three formats from 2009 for more than a decade. He has also worked exclusively with the white-ball teams since 2016, and had spent time with Multan in 2019 and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Recently, Multan also became the first T20 franchise in Pakistan with a female general manager.