Lahore - Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar, who is also known as Rawalpindi Express, has joined the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Lahore Qalandars as the team mentor.
“I am honoured to announce that Shoaib Akhtar has joined Qalandars family and he will mentor our players,” said Lahore Qalandars chairman Fawad Rana during a press conference held here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday, where Shoaib Akhtar, former pacer Aqib Javed, Atif Rana and young pacer Haris Rauf were also present.
Shoaib Akhtar, who has represented Pakistan in 46 Tests and 163 ODIs, said that he is excited to be part of Lahore Qalandars and keen to train young fast bowlers, spotted by the franchise during the players development program Jazz Rising Stars.
“I am honored and privileged to be a part of this, extremely excited and thrilled,” he said. “I want fast bowlers to perform aggressively and will mentor these bowlers to become what a fast bowler should be,” said the former bowler, who was once the fastest bowler in the cricketing world.
The Rawalpindi Express also praised Qalandars' talent hunt programme, saying that it would promote new talent and serve Pakistan in the longer run. “I have never seen a talent hunt program of such huge scale in my career,” he said.
Shoaib’s first task with Qalandar family, as it seems, will be to mentor newly-found fast bowler Haris Rauf who – according to Aqib Javed – is one of the fastest bowlers in the present era. Haris was spotted during open trials in Gujranwala last month. The young bowler has also signed a contract with Lahore Qalandars franchise and will be part of team’s development squad for the tour of Australia.