The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been planning to begin a new one-day workshop along with their senior members of the side, the white-ball captain Babar Azam and the red-ball leader Shan Masood, to discuss the way ahead for their cricket in the future direction.
The last few months have been declining for the Green Brigade across formats. Pakistan had a terrible time in India during last year’s ODI World Cup 2023, where they failed to qualify for the semifinal of the tournament. The recent T20 World Cup saw them losing to the co-host United States of America (USA) and not being able to be promoted to the Super Eight stage of the event.
Even in the longest format of the game, Pakistan hasn’t won a Test series at home for nearly two years. They won their last red-ball series nearly 15 months ago in Sri Lanka before a change of captaincy to Masood didn’t change their luck with a 2-0 series defeat in Australia before their recent historic defeat at home against Bangladesh.
Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten to attend Pakistan’s workshop-
Along with Masood and Azam, a few other senior players like the left-handed opening batter Fakhar Zaman, the wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan, the new opening batter of the side Saim Ayub, the vice-captain of the Test side Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, the veteran white-ball all-rounder Shadab Khan, and the premier left-handed speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi, all of them are expected to join the camp.
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The white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten and the red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie of the Pakistan side, along with the assistant coach Azhar Mahmood and the High-Performance specialist David Reid, will also attend the meeting.
“We aim to identify key issues, foster open dialogue, and collectively agree on a strategic path forward to successfully reshape Pakistan cricket.” The PCB chief, Mohsin Naqvi, expressed to PTI about the development.
“The Connection Camp is a critical step towards unifying our approach to restore Pakistan cricket to its former glory. We aim to identify key issues, foster open dialogue, and collectively agree on a strategic path forward.” Naqvi revealed the plan.
‘The PCB remains optimistic that this session, which builds on prior discussions which build on discussions with former cricketer, will lead to a results-driven strategy that improves both player management and team performance.” Mohsin Naqvi narrated.
The quality of performance has dropped for the Pakistan team across formats in recent times. Their Test captain Shan Masood also questioned the preparations they are having before a specific series, besides vowing to focus on certain benchmarks developing the skill of the player and enhancing the grassroots of the game.
The former South African batter and the all-rounder from Australia have spoken about the positive points and expectations of their cricket from the workshop.
“We’re striving towards the same goal- raising the standard of Pakistan cricket and creating a culture of winning.” Gillespie shared his view.
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Kirsten added that the focus is on refining the approach of the white-ball side and building a team that can consistently perform at the highest level to bring joy to the fans.
The PCB leadership group and the national selector will also be present in the meeting, as the initiative is not new for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), having held such meetings in the past to discuss the strategic path and key issues of their game. However, the success rate of such meetings is not quite promising.