Pakistan white-ball coach Hesson: Want players who are multi-skilled, not milestone obsessed

Pakistan's new white-ball coach Mike Hesson said he believes that the concept of specialist batters in T20 cricket is "outdated." In a wide-ranging in-house interview with the PCB, Hesson suggested the building blocks laid during Pakistan's commanding 3-0 T20I win against Bangladesh were indicative of the brand of cricket he will challenge his side to play in future.

"You have to be multi-skilled," Hesson said. "The idea of just specialist batters is very much outdated.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 the captain can turn to, then, say, you've got two right-handers at the crease, you can bring on your left-arm spinner. You've got offspinners, who, if you get particular matchups, can do a job.

"They might only be one or two overs, but that gives the captain the flexibility then at the back end to pick his best bowlers on that day. And that's why I look at it both ways. You've got to cover both areas. You've got to be above par with the bat and you've got to be below par with the ball and that's the way we'll be trying to operate."

It was a tactic visible throughout Pakistan's recently concluded series against Bangladesh. In the second game, the hosts used eight bowlers in defence of their total, the joint-highest in their T20I history. In the other two games, they used seven bowlers, something they have done just 14 times in 261 T20I matches. A number of players, primarily in the team for their ability with the bat, most notably Salman Agha and Saim Ayub, put in bowling shifts.

It is a tactic Hesson has applied in the PSL, too; in two seasons with Islamabad United, the franchise used an average of 6.25 bowlers per innings, a shade behind Lahore Qalandars at 6.29 and well ahead of the rest of the pack.

It is part of a wider shift that Hesson, who was appointed head coach of the Pakistan white-ball side last month, hopes to implement during his time at the helm. During the interview, Hesson outlined an aim to overhaul the culture within Pakistan cricket in undertones of what Mickey Arthur attempted to do in his first stint as head coach between 2016 and 2019.

Between 2016 and 2018, Arthur, along with fielding coach Steve Rixon, put in a concerted effort to improve Pakistan's fitness and fielding, systematically excluding players who did not meet their benchmarks. The efforts were phenomenally successful, and Pakistan became a world-class fielding side. Following Rixon's acrimonious departure, those standards dropped sharply, and have never since recovered.

"You've got to understand what the team culture is and then try and [improve upon] that," Hesson said. "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."

Hesson said he had accepted the job in Pakistan with "eyes wide open", given the challenges foreign coaches have recently had in Pakistan after the short-lived appointments of Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten failed spectacularly. After turning down an approach from the PCB a year earlier due to personal reasons, Hesson sought to ensure the PCB was on the same page as him, and clarified they viewed his appointment as medium-term rather than one producing immediate results.

"There was a shift in terms of the PCB recognising that they needed to make change around the way that they wanted to play white ball cricket. That was important because for someone new to come in and make that shift could take time," Hesson said. "The concept of playing aggressive cricket versus the concept of playing measured, smart cricket with intent is what makes the difference.

"I thought I can add a little bit of structure there and I'm pretty good at identifying those that can be successful in white ball cricket. There's some really good players who probably aren't maximising their talent at the moment, that hopefully we can draw that out.

"The results won't come instantly. People must be aware that we will have some ups and downs, but if we're aware of where the pinnacle events are and where we want to peak, there's a process to that. I needed to understand that everyone in key roles were aware of that, whether that be the NCA, the chairman, the selectors, or senior players, we all need to be on the same page in terms of where we want to get to."

While not naming anyone, Hesson said the door "was not shut" on anyone looking to break into the Pakistan side, but any players who aspired to find a way into the team needed to be clear about what was required of them. He said he aimed to speak directly to players who were dropped or left out, citing it as a key role of being the head coach of a national side. That would appear to include Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi, the three highest profile Pakistan players who were not in Hesson's first squad.

"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 said. "Those that aren't in future squads, I'll be having those communications. I'll be talking with all those players that have a desire to play for Pakistan and being really clear around the expectations we have."

Part of that, for Hesson, is making clear that personal milestones only retain value in a certain context. "It becomes pretty apparent to everybody [if someone's playing for personal milestones] that that's what's happening and it's been happening for years. I think personal milestones will just happen if you're trying to do the right thing by the team and then the team will celebrate them.

"If we need 14 an over, a single down the ground is not going to make a big difference. If you're looking to hit it somewhere for four and you can't - no problem. But if we can tell you're not picking the bat up and you're just trying to bunt it for one to get your milestone, those milestones don't really matter if you end up losing by 20. It's all about context and doing whatever you can to help the team win the game."