NICK FRIEND - INTERVIEW: Abdul Rehman has been involved in every edition of the Pakistan Super League, and he takes over as head coach at Multan Sultans following the departure of Andy Flower
Abdul Rehman reckons he's in a minority of coaches to have been involved in all nine editions of the Pakistan Super League.
But this one promises to be slightly different for the 54-year-old, now installed as Multan Sultans' head coach, following in the substantial footsteps of Andy Flower – a gig he accepts is more difficult for replacing a man widely considered to be among the very best on the franchise circuit.
"I'm a big fan," laughs Rehman. "I learned so many things from him. But I like a challenge; he has a different style from me. I got so much knowledge from him; he's a wonderful coach who empowers other people. When I was his assistant, he always listened to me, and he always gave value to everyone's suggestions.
"He was never a dictator, singularly making the decisions. He would ask the trainers, the physios. Every individual. That is the best thing I learned from him."
Flower is no longer involved at Multan, and nor is Richard Halsall, another close confidant to Rehman, who back in 2017 was Peshawar Zalmi's assistant coach in their title year. But he knows that he has both at his fingertips, only a phone call away, should he need them.
In the meantime, he has still had another of the former England thinktank to fall back on, with Nathan Leamon alongside him at the draft table.
"We are on the same page, thinking the same thing," says Rehman. "Maybe we missed out on a couple in the middle, but overall we got what we wanted."
The PSL kicks off this weekend (AFP via Getty Images)
He is satisfied with a squad that – in the head coach's eyes – has most bases covered. There was a time when they felt light on top-order firepower, but Dawid Malan, Mohammed Rizwan and Reeza Hendricks are now supported by Johnson Charles, who was picked up at the supplementary draft.
"At a draft," he adds, "you might have to compromise something – you can't pick exactly what you had in your mind. Overall, it's a good team."
Rehman is most pleased with a Pakistani engine room in the middle order, the kind – he says – that isn't easily found in the PSL. "In Pakistan, there are fewer middle-order batters," he suggests.
"I can count Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah, maybe one more – we only have four or five strong players who can hit sixes while standing in the crease. As a coach, I like those players who can hit while in a steady position. So, we're lucky to have two of those – Khushdil and Iftikhar."
That is doubly the case as Sultans enter 2024 without two of their most reliable run-sources.
Shan Masood has been traded to Karachi Kings, with emerging left-arm wrist-spinner Faisal Akram coming the other way, returning to the franchise that – in a separate interview with The Cricketer – he calls his home.
Rilee Rossouw, meanwhile, approached Multan after last season to ask for a move. The result was a trade with Quetta Gladiators, with Pakistan allrounder Iftikhar coming the other way. The request surprised Rehman: only Rizwan and Masood have scored more runs for the franchise than the South African, who leaves having made fifty-plus scores in each of his four years onboard, culminating in a 51-ball, six-laden assault on Peshawar Zalmi's attack last March in Rawalpindi. He made 121 as Multan chased down 243 with five balls unused.
"We tried (to persuade him to stay)," insists Rehman, "but it's a commercial game. Sometimes, you get big offers, and you can't stop someone. Loyalty is a secondary thing in franchise cricket."
Rehman in conversation with Sultans owner Ali Khan Tareen
Rossouw is the highest-scoring overseas player in PSL history, with only Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Rizwan ahead on the overall list. Barring a shocker at Quetta, he will join an exclusive club of players with 2,000 runs in the competition at some point in the next couple of weeks. Only, not in Multan blue.
"Rilee was our main player for three or four years," admits Rehman. "We always made the team around him because he was always available for the full tournament. He is the sort of player I like. He is different, a match-winner. We couldn't find a replacement for him, but we've managed to make a good team."
To acknowledge his rarity as an ever-available, left-handed, middle-order gun-for-hire, Multan have rejigged their middle order entirely. Khushdil had a poor campaign in 2023 but is far better than 72 runs in 11 matches suggests, but he and Rizwan are essentially the two survivors of that top seven. Rossouw has moved on; Kieron Pollard was set to represent Karachi Kings but is understood to now be at least partially unavailable, and neither Tim David nor David Miller are part of this year's tournament.
Rehman, though, is excited to build through a Rizwan-Hendricks-Malan axis at the top, while more generally he believes his franchise has assembled a squad well suited to playing eight out of 10 matches at Multan, Lahore and Karachi, with just two games at the high-scoring Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. His hope for those fixtures – against Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United – is that his players buy into his general coaching mantra.
"As a coach, I think everyone can play attacking cricket," he says. "But there has been a lot of talk in Pakistan about intent, when the national team is playing. In T20 cricket, you have to start with creation: I always say to the batters to maybe watch the swing in the first over, but otherwise you are always chasing opportunities to score and create.
Rehman has vast experience in the PSL (Farooq Naeem/AFP via Getty Images)
"If you are creating, it's important to keep your strengths in mind – where you are strong. If you're strong square, hit it square. I think you always get the balls where your strengths are, because the bowler cannot bowl in one spot all the time. In Pakistan, there are few people who take all the opportunities they get, and when they don't get the opportunities, they don't try to create the opportunities. That is why they look very conservative, very slow.
"A single is not creation, a single is an opportunity you always have. Sometimes, it's an issue with the coaches: they don't let the payers be aggressive. They say: 'You hit six runs, so why are you playing another shot?' But I think if you get six balls to hit six sixes, go for it. If you get six boundary balls, go for it. Don't stop. Some coaches want a six and then a single.
"Even the commentators say: 'Oh, that's intelligent cricket.' Oh, come on. This is T20 cricket. If you get six deliveries and six boundary balls, hit six boundaries. I think the players like this type of coaching, which gives them freedom to play their game."
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