LAHORE: South Africa’s highly-rated wrist spinner Imran Tahir and New Zealand’s T20 specialist Colin Munro were confirmed on Friday as team mentors for the first of its kind six-team Pakistan Junior League, which will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium from October 4-17.

Imran and Munro have joined Daren Sammy, Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik who were last month named as mentors. The appointment of the sixth team mentor will be announced in due course.

After the team naming rights have been confirmed, these celebrated former international stars will be allocated sides. Javed Miandad will be involved in the tournament as an overall mentor, assisting the mentors of the six sides and the players during the tournament.

Imran Tahir played for Pakistan in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 1998 before moving to South Africa in 2005 and making his international debut for the Proteas in 2011.

The wrist spinner played in 20 Tests, 107 ODIs and 38 T20Is, taking 57, 173 and 63 wickets, respectively. Munro struck three T20I centuries and 11 half-centuries, including a 14-ball 50 against Sri Lanka, in a 65-match career with New Zealand.

Imran Tahir said, “Returning to Lahore for the Pakistan Junior League in a team mentor’s role is one of my most satisfying achievements as I still owe a lot to my country of birth. I am fully behind the philosophy of Pakistan Junior League as this creates a tough and challenging environment for the players with high expectations, and only those who will clear this scale will go leaps and bounds in their careers. With the amount of international cricket being played, this event will help Pakistan to amplify their pool of players, which, in turn, will increase playing opportunities and earning the prized national cap.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022