Pakistan cricket is blessed with remarkable phenomenon. When the likes of Younis Khan, Umar Gul and Yasir Hameed used to don Peshawar colours in the national T20 Cup that region never ever threatened to run away with the trophy.

The subsequent departure of these three outstanding Pakistan cricketers painted a bleak picture when it came to Peshawar making their presence felt. Only twice — 2006-07 and 2011-12 — they qualified for the semi-finals.

But the last two competitions have seen Peshawar stamp their authority in brilliant fashion. In September 2014, they made everyone sit up by annexing their maiden T20 title. And then they proved their triumph in Karachi against a somewhat depleted Lahore Lions — the main string was away in India playing in the now defunct Champions League T20 event — was no fluke by retaining their crown in Rawalpindi last Tuesday.

The man behind Peshawar’s rise as a force at the domestic level is their head coach Abdul Rehman, who is deeply admired by Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis to such an extent he was summoned to Lahore to join the short training camp for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour hours after Peshawar defeated Karachi Blues in the final at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

With a Masters degree in International Relations, 45-year-old Rehman is a qualified Level IV cricket coach who played first-class cricket and appeared in a two-day match against Australian Academy side in 1995-96 after having appeared in a tour match against Sri Lanka ‘A’ in 1989.

Many people are unaware that Rehman was also one of the probables for Pakistan’s tour of England in 1996.

In his role as coach, Rehman guided Balochistan to three Pentangular Cup finals.

But when he moved to Peshawar, Rehman started producing results. In four seasons under his guidance, the region won the first-class Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Silver League trophy in 2011-12, ended up runners-up in the 2013-14 one-day cup, won the T20 Cup with Peshawar Panthers in 2014-15 before inspiring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fighters to the Pentangular Cup crown in January this year.

In an exclusive interview with Dawn on Saturday, Rehman spoke at length about Peshawar’s latest triumph.

“I think by winning this title all teams now really accept the existence of Peshawar as strong competitors. Before this title even we had also won the T20 Cup last year but people were unwilling to give us rating as it should have been the case,” Rehman said. “But by winning this title has made Peshawar the most feared team in Pakistan.”

Rehman recalled Peshawar’s victory last year was achieved convincingly despite Lahore Lions being forced to compete with a second-string side under Azhar Ali.

“We should not forget the fact we had defeated the likes of Faisalabad, Sialkot, Islamabad and Lahore Eagles convincingly to finish unbeaten in the tournament. The notion of us being lucky was irrelevant then,” he reminded.

Rehman said the role of coach is secondary since it is the players who have to perform on the field. But winning in Rawalpindi has definitely made him the man to watch out for.

“I believe that the players should be given the credit no matter what. As a coach, one can only motivate them. But it is pleasing to know that people are realising the importance a coach holds,” Rehman remarked.

“I remember last year when we won the final at the National Stadium, a number of people wanted to know who I was.

“This gave me that belief that I can do well as coach. Our victory in the final last Tuesday gave others something to think about me that ‘he is something’. As I said earlier the players did the job and I just made sure they perform as one unit and backed each other and at the same time, enjoyed each other’s success.

“One can’t describe the feeling in words when you win against star-laden teams. Especially a man like me can’t describe because one can’t find the words in the vocabulary. Our first title win in Karachi was very special no doubt, but retaining it was even greater.”

Rehman credited his team’s success to simple methods. “Individually, Peshawar didn’t have the so-called icon players like other teams had. We had only two international players [Imran Khan Senior and Mohammad Rizwan]. But faith in Almighty Allah, self-belief, calmness and specific preparations were the key elements of our victory.

“A coach needs success, but my philosophy is that player comes first then win. So it would please me more when my player is selected for the national team. Imran Khan Junior’s selection [for Zimbabwe T20s] was anticipated and he has been rewarded for exceptional performances in the two tournaments.”

Speaking about the spectacular rise of Imran Khan Junior, Rehman observed he is a very talented bowler in the shortest format.

“Without a shadow of doubt, Imran Junior played a most important role in our winning the title again. I think he is an extraordinary talent with natural ability to read batsmen, his consistency not only bowling slower ones he is also good in yorkers and fast length ball make him difficult for batsmen,” the coach said of the 27-year-old who is set the become the first international cricketer from the Swat village of Panjigram.

Rehman refused to accept that Peshawar are only good at chasing a target. Their only defeat in the recent-ended tournament was against Abbottabad when Peshawar had to bat first.

“Well, I don’t think that this is our weak area because bowling first or second you have to bowl according to the situation. If you are bowling first you have to restrict the opposition to a small total and if you are bowling second you have to defend your total.

“So in both situations you have to bowl at good line and according to the field. Although in my view we are as good in defending as in chasing. It is also worth mentioning that in our 13 chases we lost most of the tosses and had to bowl first,” he added.

Just like Peshawar, Rehman’s credentials as a coach have considerably risen. He guided Pakistan ‘A’ to a 2-0 one-day win against the West Indies ‘A’ in 2010-11, victory in four-day match against Australia last year, 3-2 one-day series win against the UAE and drew a three-day game against New Zealand last season.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2015

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