APL 2018: Venkatesh Prasad appointed Nangarhar Leopards coach

Former Indian seamer Venkatesh Prasad will don the hat of the coach again, this time for the Nangarhar Leopards franchise in the inaugural edition of the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) starting next month. The 49-year-old who shouldered India’s pace-bowling responsibilities in the 1990s and also served as India’s chief junior selector is currently involved with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kings XI Punjab.

Prasad had also coaching stints with other IPL franchises like Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings and was also one of the candidates who applied for the position of Team India’s head coach in 2016. The news of his taking up the coach’s role for the Leopards was confirmed by a report in Sportstarlive.

Prasad has played 33 Tests and 161 ODIs between 1994 and 2001, taking 292 international wickets with eight five-wicket hauls. His bowling averages in Tests and ODIs were 35 and 32.30, respectively. He will hope to share his experience with the squad and make the difference to the team.

Andre Russell to lead Nangarhar Leopards

Nangarhar Leopards is Afghanistan’s Jalalabad region and will be led by dashing Windies all-rounder Andre Russell, who is also their icon player. Five teams will play the inaugural tournament in Sharjah between October 5 and 21. The Leopards will play their first match against Kandahar Kings on October 6 before taking on the Paktia Royals the very next day.

The Leopards squad includes the likes of Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Hafiz, Sandeep Lamichhane, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan and others as overseas players. Iqbal sustained a serious wrist injury in the game against Sri Lanka in the ongoing Asia Cup and has been ruled out for six weeks.

Recently, Afghanistan national wicket-keeper Mohammad Shahzad alleged that he was approached during the Asia Cup to play below par in the APL, something that has alarmed the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the cricketers should be careful of the same.

Nangarhar Leopards full squad: Andre Russell (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Mujeeb Zadran, Ben Cutting, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Faal Nazai, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Taraki, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Hafeez, Naveen Ul Haq, Zahir Khan, Mitchell McClenaghan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Fazal Haq, Khyber Omar, Imran Janat, Nasratullah Quarishi and Ibrahim Zadran.

[interaction id=”5bab84669426af3ae5217caf”]

Keep following CricTracker for more news and updates.