Dunedin : If Saqlain Mushtaq feels divided loyalties as he helps New Zealand prepare for the first test against his countrymen he hides it well.
The former Pakistani offspinner, now sporting a long beard, is working with New Zealand's players, both the spin bowlers and giving the batsmen tips on how to play the twirly stuff.
He knows his oats. Saqlain, still only 32, was an outstanding bowler who took 208 wickets in 49 tests and a whopping 288 ODI wickets in 169 games at just 21.78 apiece in a nine-year career which ended prematurely four years ago.
Saqlain is credited with being the first spinner to master the doosra, the delivery which looks to the batsman like an offspinner, but instead turns away from the bat.
"People are saying 'what are you feeling'?" Saqlain said yesterday. "But that is our religion. Where you are working you have to be 100 per cent honest and it is a big honour for me to be with the Kiwis."
He admitted his old friend, Pakistan's captain Mohammad Yousuf, has been pulling his leg over his switch of allegiance for the series.
"They gave me a bit, but they were all very happy. They all understand that this is a game, and it is part of my job."
Saqlain toured New Zealand in 2001, taking eight wickets to spin Pakistan to a huge 299-run win at Eden Park, then hitting his only test century, 101 not out, at Christchurch later in the series, when his former roommate Yousuf made 203.
He has talked through aspects of Pakistan's game and what New Zealand might expect in terms of where they will bowl and batting strengths and weaknesses.
"I am giving the psyche of how the bowler feels when they bowl to batsmen and how they work, how they see the feet movement, is he picking me or not," Saqlian said.
"Whatever information I had I pass on to them. I had to. If we wear it [pointing at the silver fern on his sweater] and it is on my heart, then my heart should be 100 per cent in place."
Saqlain will leave New Zealand just before the second test starts in Wellington next week.
Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said former off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq helping New Zealand in the Test series commencing from Tuesday will not give the hosts any advantage.
Saqlain, who helped the Black Caps out on their recent tour of Sri Lanka, has joined the team as bowling consultant for the Dunedin Test.
"Cricket is a global sport and being professional coach, one is expected to give his best on the assignment he is working on. Nowadays coaching is a fulltime professional job and you can get a challenging assignment with any team," said Intikhab.
"Personally speaking, I am happy that our former players are getting high profile jobs like this," added Intikhab, who is also a former Pakistan skipper.
However, Saqlain's presence has made some of the players, including Muhammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Faisal Iqbal, Imran Farhat, worried with whom he has shared the dressing rooms.
"He is a Pakistani and top off-spinner. The biggest worry is that he will help the New Zealanders tackle our spinners well, particularly Saeed Ajmal, who is still new to Test cricket," team sources said.
Saqlain was not the only such example as a number of his compatriots have engaged themselves with the foreign teams.
England has hired services of former Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed as their bowling consultant and he is helping them on their tour of South Africa.
Another former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram was also appointed as the bowling consultant to the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kolkata Knight Riders recently.
Also, Intikhab himself had coached the Punjab team in Ranji Trophy in India for two seasons.
"I have told the boys to just focus on game and do your best. Nothing else matters. In New Zealand conditions the pacers should dominate during the series," Intikhab said.
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