LAHORE: Former Pakistan allrounder Azhar Mehmood has said that as an assistant coach of Pakistan team his role will be important. “My role will be important as I will try to bridge the gap between the players and coaching staff. Gary Kirsten has a huge experience and Gillespie also is a well-established coach, having done well in the capacity in county cricket and guided Yorkshire to success. We have no dearth of talent but we lack the capacity to groom the players. And the thing is how we can do the way the international cricket is being dealt with in the current era,” Azhar told a news conference alongside the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi here on Sunday.
Azhar recently acted as Pakistan’s head coach during the New Zealand series which ended in a 2-2 draw after the first show at Rawalpindi was washed out due to rain. On Sunday he was announced as an assistant coach after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that it haf hired the services of Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie as whiteball and red ball head coaches, respectively, for two years.
“Our aim is the same: to raise standard of Pakistan team. This is the first time in Pakistan’s history that two foreign coaches are coming, who will look after both whiteball and red ball cricket respectively,” Azhar said.
He said they should have won the series against New Zealand. “We should have won this series with high margin but we cannot disrespect anyone. These are the upcoming stars of New Zealand. They played disciplined cricket with the talent they had at their disposal. We lack cricketing discipline. Running between the wickets depends on fitness and look New Zealand saved 20 runs. In the last two matches they ran for 15 singles and doubles and we just managed six and five and here we have the issue. When our players’ fitness level touches the level of Australia and India and the rest of the nations then it will help us. In the last two years Pakistan, which won matches, have made average score of 173. Moving forward our average score should be 190. Six runs are given in every game in shape of wide and no balls and we have to cut down that and how to improve our fielding, if we save five to six runs and add 15 runs in batting and when we add these things then we will compete with the world,” Azhar explained.
“The important thing is your mindset. Yesterday we had to score 200 and we were below-par. We had 178 but we got slow from seven to 15 overs. We have to remove the fear of getting out and it’s part of plans and we know where we make mistake. We would like not to repeat these mistakes on Ireland and England tours and also we should not repeat these mistakes in the World Cup,” Azhar said.
“This is our target and we will try to raise the standard of this team,” Azhar was quick to add. He backed Saim Ayub despite his failure with the bat against New Zealand. “Sharjeel has no such performances. You saw Saim Ayub with Babar and in the PSL too; both had made four 100 runs partnerships. Unfortunately Saim did not score in this series but he has a lot of potential, ability and skills. It’s just about the confidence that how you handle the international matches pressure and as coaches we are giving him confidence and are removing his flaws,” he said while responding to a question.