The new Pakistan white-ball coach Mike Hesson has a tough task of rebuilding the team. His next targets would be the two marquee ICC events in the next two years. Appointed in the role just last month, Hesson has outlined what he wants from his players and the brand of cricket he wants to instill in Pakistan cricket.
In Hesson’s first assignment as the coach, Pakistan defeated Bangladesh in a T20I series by 3-nil at home. He hopes to build on the positive steps from that series.
Speaking on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) podcast, Hesson spoke on many aspects of the game in detail. One of them was the importance of having players with multiple skills.
“You have to be multi-skilled. The idea of just specialist batters is very much outdated. Not everyone can read a pitch to a point where you know that these five bowlers are going to be perfect. If you’ve got 6, 7, 8 options, that gives the captain the flexibility then at the back end to pick his best bowlers on that day,” said Hesson.
It wasn’t a surprise the recent T20I series saw Pakistan use eight bowling options in one match and seven in the other two. Batters who can bowl – Salman Agha and Saim Ayub bowled quite a bit in the series.
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From cricket pundits to casual fans, everyone associates Pakistan cricket with poor fielding standards. They have struggled in this area for decades with low catch efficiency, poor fitness, and average ground fielding.
While addressing, Hesson sent a warning to players stating there’s no place for players who can’t field in his team.
“You’ve got to understand what the team culture is and then try and [improve upon] that. There’s no doubt there are some skills that need to be developed with all of our players and that’s just part of evolution for me. Fielding is critical in white ball cricket; there’s no room in a squad for somebody that can’t. You just can’t hide people in the field these days. So that’ll be a real push for me,” he said.
The Pakistan T20I team has seen a shift recently, leaving out the seniors Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi. The coach made it clear that he hasn’t shut the door for any of the players that want to get back into the side.
“I don’t shut the door on anybody and I think that once you’re a good player, you’re a good player, but sometimes you need to just stretch yourself a little bit,” he added.
The PCB chose Mike Hesson for his experience in coaching and knowledge of white-ball cricket. He has previously led New Zealand to the 2015 Cricket World Cup final and coached Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League.
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