Karachi: Rumman Raees, the Pakistani pace bowler, will be Islamabad United’s vice-captain for the third edition of the HBL PSL.

He will deputise under the franchise’s captain and the most successful captain in Pakistan’s Test history, Misbah-ul-Haq. In addition, Saeed Ajmal, the former Pakistan spinner, has been appointed as United’s Spin Bowling Coach for HBL PSL 3.

These announcements were made Saturday at a press conference in Lahore by Ali Naqvi, the owner of the franchise.

Naqvi, talking to the media at Gaddafi Stadium, elaborated on these moves saying, “We’ve always aimed for this franchise to be similar to a family, and these two appointments are a continuation of that belief. Rumman has come on leaps and bounds from when we picked him up in the first PSL Draft. And the way he has represented the franchise over the past two years made him the ideal candidate for this role. We think this is the perfect time for him to be given his responsibility as this allows him to be groomed under the tutelage of great mentor like Misbah for this season.”

“The same is true of Saeed. He’s been part of the family for two years and we have nothing but praise for how he has represented us. He’s a great person, and a great player, and I am sure the young guys will learn a lot from him. Furthermore, the staff has recommended him for this role, and we’ve always left the cricketing decisions to the cricket people.”

Regarding these appointments Dean Jones, the Head Coach of the franchise, said, “We are proud to announce these changes. We believe that Rumman is a future leader for our franchise, and more importantly a future leader for Pakistan. We have been most impressed by him not only as a cricketer but as an individual, and we will try to develop him even further in both these aspects.”

“Saeed has been our Chief Entertainment Officer, and we have huge respect for him as a cricketer and a future coach. We’ve already seen him help develop Shadab Khan in PSL 2, and we want him to continue doing that. This opportunity here helps him expand his coaching skills. He He’s a great presence in the dressing room, and we wanted to make sure that he continued to be a part of it, and this allows us to do that.”

After the press conference, Waqar Younis, Islamabad United’s Director Cricket said, “Saeed is someone whom I have worked with for years and I know how important he is to the atmosphere of a dressing room. His presence with Islamabad United is bound to be a positive for the franchise, and with leaders like him I am sure we will be competing for the championship again.”—PPI