Former Pakistan leg spinner and National Cricket Academy head coach Mushtaq Ahmed said on Thursday that greater importance should be given to enhancing the player’s fitness and mental toughness level in the high-performance camp which is in progress at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
“It is a very important venture [camp] where the coaches are working on different aspects of the game even basics of the game which will never change besides focusing on improving players’ fitness and mental toughness [levels] which help them in becoming great cricketers at international level,” Mushtaq was quoted as saying by the Dawn while giving inputs on the first two weeks of the 10 weeks long training camp.
The 47-year-old Mushtaq conceded that the primary objective of the camp is to enhance the player’s skills and improve their performance level so that they acquire those abilities to perform for their team in a high-intensity match and in international competitions where the stakes are very high. They must keep pushing themselves for achieving their targets.
“If a player has the capacity to run five kilometres, we are motivating him through various physical drills to take his effort level to seven kilometres. This capacity building will definitely be an added advantage for him in his international career,” Mushtaq quipped.
The former leggie termed the long duration of the camp as the “component of the modern cricket system” and said this camp will surely help the players enhance their skills and will help them reach that level of mental toughness that it is required in the highest level of cricket.
During his peak in his international career, Mushtaq wasn’t far behind Shane Warne with a bag full of tricks but what made Warne unique and special was his in drift and rip. Mushtaq modelled his bowling around his idol Abdul Qadir and though he wasn’t as successful as his idol, Mushtaq donned the Pakistan colours in 52 Tests and 144 ODI’s and played an instrumental role in Pakistan’s only World Cup victory till date in 1992.
Some of his best bowling performance came away from home in Australia and England and the bounce in those pitched helped him get more purchase. While he bagged 185 wickets in Tests, his ODI numbers were 161 in 144 matches.