Former New Zealand Cricketer Grant Bradburn has been named as the new head coach of the Pakistan men’s team and he will be leading the coaching unit of the Men in Green for the next two years. The 56-year-old has taken over the hat of head coach with two major assignments for the Men in Green with Asia Cup and ODI World Cup later this year. The former South Africa cricketer Andrew Puttick has also signed a two-year contract as the batting coach.
Bradburn is not new to the Pakistan setup as he was the fielding coach of the Pakistan Team from 2018 to 2021 and served as the head of High-Performance Coaching at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, Pakistan and he held the position on a consultancy basis during Pakistan’s recent ODI and T20 series against New Zealand.
Under Bradburn and Babar Azam, the Men in Green defeated the Kiwis 4-1 in the five-match One-Day International series that took them to the top of the ICC Rankings in the format and also they drew the 5 match T20 series 2-2 in their home soil.
Speaking on the appointment of their new head coach, Najam Sethi was elated to have Bradburn taking this team forward going into the all-important ODI World Cup year as he has good experience coaching in World Cricket and who is well known for the culture of the Pakistan Cricket working in the country.
“I am delighted to name Grant Bradburn as the head coach of our men’s side. Bradburn joins the side with a plethora of coaching experience. After having worked with our men’s side before and at the National Cricket Academy, he understands our culture and philosophy of cricket well and is an ideal candidate to take our team forward, “Najam Sethi said.
Pakistan is scheduled to play in a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan which acts as preparation for the side going into the Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup later in India. The Men in Green will look to give themselves the best chance to perform in the Sub continent’s wickets as they have a good team coming into the World Cup.
It Is A Great Honour For Me To Work With a Highly Talented And Skillful Side Like Pakistan – Grant Bradburn
Grant Bradburn said that it was a great honour for him to work with the highly talented bunch of Pakistan players and reckons that the New Zealand series helped them to spend some time together as it gave clarity about the kind of cricket they need to play going forward.
“It is a great honor for me to work with the highly talented and skillful side like Pakistan as a head coach, The New Zealand series has been valuable to get game time and create clarity of roles, culture, and brand to win,” Grant Bradburn said.
Meanwhile, Mickey Arthur, who recently joined the Pakistan men’s cricket team as an online consultant, will reportedly join the Men in Green permanently from the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
This will be Mickey Arthur’s second stint as Pakistan team head coach as he previously worked with Sarfaraz Ahmed-led side from 2016-2019 and under his guidance, Pakistan won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017, defeating India in the final.