Auckland, March 13 (IANS) Assistant coaches Luke Ronchi and Jacob Oram have been granted leave by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) to take up coaching roles with Islamabad United in the upcoming edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026, which begins later this month.

Ronchi, who represented the franchise from 2017 to 2021, will return as the head coach of Islamabad United, while Oram has been appointed as one of his assistants. With the PSL scheduled to start on March 26 and run until late April, including the finals, both coaches will miss New Zealand’s upcoming series against South Africa as well as the tour of Bangladesh in April.

New Zealand performance manager Mike Sandle said the team management and NZC were supportive of the duo pursuing the coaching opportunity.

“This is a great chance for Luke and Jake to further their coaching experience and grow their skills outside of the New Zealand cricket environment,” Sandle said in a statement.

“Just like our players, our coaches are in demand around the world and we believe Luke and Jake will not only personally benefit from their time at the PSL, but they will also be able to bring back knowledge and IP that can aid the BLACKCAPS and NZC in the future,” he added.

Sandle added that Jonny Bassett-Graham, head coach of the Wellington Blaze, and NZC network coach Graeme Aldridge will assist head coach Rob Walter during the upcoming series against South Africa. Meanwhile, Brendon Donkers from the Canterbury cricket team will join the support staff for the Bangladesh tour.

“One of the added bonuses of Luke and Jake heading to the PSL is the opportunity it affords other coaches in the NZC network,” Sandle said.

“It will be great to have Jonny, Graeme and Brendon join the BLACKCAPS and I’m sure they will get a lot of out their time in the environment and the experience of working alongside our players and support staff,” he added.

“Their involvement will naturally help strengthen our high-performance coaching depth and we hope the coaches themselves will be able to take back some of what they’ve learned to benefit the domestic set-ups,” Sandle concluded.

New Zealand will face South Africa in the first match of the five-match T20I series at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday, with the series set to be played as double-headers alongside matches featuring the New Zealand women’s cricket team and South Africa women’s cricket team.

–IANS

sds/bc