T10 League 2019: Andy Flower named Maratha Arabians head coach for the upcoming season

Maratha Arabians on Tuesday named former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower as the new head coach of the franchise ahead of the Abu Dhabi T10 scheduled to be held at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The tournament is being staged under the aegis of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB). And the International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially approved it.

Flower joins Maratha Arabians after finishing a 12-year stint with England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He worked with both the English senior men’s team and the High-Performance Centre at Loughborough. During his stint as England head coach, Flower led England’s Test side to No 1 in the world, victory at the 2010 World Twenty20 and Ashes success in Australia in 2010-11.

“I have just come off a tremendous run with English cricket and am now looking ahead to the future with hope. Anything that is new and is innovative like T10 cricket always has an automatic appeal. From a coaching perspective, it presents new challenges to test yourself against in a world-class environment.

“I am looking forward to joining forces with some of the world’s best players for Maratha Arabians. I share the enthusiasm of our team owners in building a world-class franchise,” Flower said speaking of his appointment. Parvez Khan of Pacific Ventures, Bollywood Actor/Producer/Director Sohail Khan and Ali Tumbi of Aqua Properties co-own Maratha Arabians.

Maratha Arabians retain Bravo as captain

Meanwhile, the former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo will continue to lead the franchise like in the previous edition. Ahead of the players’ draft on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the franchise also named their other retentions for the season including Sri Lankan T20I captain Lasith Malinga, apart from the Afghanistan duo of Hazratullah Zazai and Najeebullah Zadran. Australia’s power-hitting batsman Chris Lynn was named the icon player of the franchise.

Maratha Arabians is one of the star-studded teams to feature in the T10 League. They are also the favourites to win the tournament. Last season they ended up at the fourth position after losing to Bengal Tigers in the 3rd place play-off. The franchise owners will be hoping for the team to go a step ahead and win the trophy.

Maratha Arabians Co-owner Sohail Khan said: “It is terrific to have a world-class cricketer and coach like Andy (Flower) as our head coach. He is a terrific addition to our squad because he comes with a fantastic track record. I am certain that we will have a perfect finish to our campaign this time around.”

Maratha Arabians Co-owner Parvez Khan said: “At Pacific Ventures we have always been closely associated with cricket. The presence of a thinking coach like Andy will add a lot of depth to the squad. Because we have some terrific players in our line-up like Dwayne (Bravo), Lasith (Malinga) amongst a whole host of others. I am certain that we will do well this season.”