Faisalabad [Pakistan]: Pakistan’s white-ball head coach, Gary Kirsten, emphasised the need to establish the same brand of cricket in the domestic format that is required in the international circuit for success, sources told Geo News.
Kirsten met the mentors and the head coaches of the teams in Paksitan’s domestic Champions Cup in Faisalabad. Misbah-ul-Haq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shoaib Malik, and Waqar Younis are the five mentors in the Champions Cup.
Sources told Geo News that during the meeting, various aspects of cricket were discussed in the presence of high-performance coach David Reid and Director of High Performance and the Champions Cup Nadeem Khan.
Kirsten urged the coaches and mentors to improve the players’ performance by using their experience. He also stressed the importance of using and sharing information as well as learning from each other’s experiences.
According to the sources, Kirsten will stay in Faisalabad throughout the competition to watch and assess the player’s performances.
With the ICC Champions Trophy set to take place in Pakistan next year, Kirsten will be keen to find the balance in the team.
One of the decisions to find that consistency could see Babar Azam’s time as the white-ball captain could be on the verge of reaching its climax. Recently, reports have started to surface about Rizwan emerging as the top candidate to replace Babar.
Since the former South African cricketer took charge of Pakistan’s white-ball head coach, the Men in Green are yet to produce promising results.
Kirsten linked up with the Pakistan team during the England series before the T20 World Cup. Two of the four-match T20I series were washed away by rain, and the remaining two were won by England.
Even in the T20 World Cup, the Babar Azam-led side turned out to be a no-show. Pakistan kicked off their campaign with a Super Over defeat against the co-hosts, the USA.
Pakistan’s arch-rival, India, further increased their woes by getting the better of them in the low-scoring thriller, where they failed to chase down the 120-run target.
Pakistan returned to winning ways by securing victories in their remaining two games against Canada and Ireland. However, their late surge wasn’t enough to seal their tickets for the Super 8 stage in the Caribbean.
After the conclusion of the marquee event, there is a huge gap in Pakistan’s next white-ball series. The Pakistan management has ample time to make the necessary changes for the betterment of their cricket.
After the T20 World Cup heartbreak, Pakistan will play their next white-ball series against Australia in November.