Important to eradicate fear of failure - Moin

On his first day in office, Moin Khan, Pakistan's new head coach, said one of the main differences he wants to make is to eradicate the "fear of failure" from the team.

Pakistan's one-day squad for the Asia Cup kicked off its preparation at the Gaddafi Stadium with Moin. In the last six months, he has also served as the manager of the national team and with the new role, he looks determined to maintain the continuity, but with a different approach.

"What I observed in the team was that there has been the fear of failure and that is very important to be taken out," Moin said. "I was the manager and it was a different role but I have benefited from it. After staying with the team, I have seen the technical problems of the players, know their psyche as well. Now I am quite confident that with the tenure I have we will work hard with the players.

"We should have consistency in team selection so that players serve the nation for eight to 10 years. As such there are not many drastic changes I will instate as Dav [Whatmore] has done very well. Time management is a very important aspect we have adopted from Dav and we will try to be proactive. I can't say that Pakistan will win every match, but in every match you will see Pakistan putting a good fight."

Pakistan have lifted two Asia Cups till now. The first success came under Moin's captaincy in 2000 and the second under present captain Misbah-ul-Haq in 2012. Since both of them will be traveling to Bangladesh for the Asia Cup, Moin said the current combination is capable of defending the title.

"My task is to win the tournament, you will see a positive attitude and positive body language," Moin said. "I know this team is capable of winning the Asia Cup again. No doubt our bowling has done well as compared to batting but I hope we achieve a balance. We are capable of doing that with new players like Sohaib Maqsood, Sharjeel [Khan], Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal is at No. 6, this combination is very good. The more consistent we will be, it will give more confidence to the players."

Moin was preferred over the more experienced Waqar Younis, but for Moin, not having coached at international level is not a barrier. He was appointed coach for the Asia Cup and the World T20, a move which was criticised by Wasim Akram, who said Moin should have been given a longer tenure to maintain consistency.

"I don't have a problem with the short tenure as head coach, it's all performance related and if the cricket board believes, I will get an extension," Moin said. "If I am not able to get an extension, I do believe that someone good will come and produce good results in the future too.

"With all due respect I don't have any competition [with Waqar] in my mind but whatever capacity I have, I will do my best to contribute, naturally if players do well it will be considered. Even though we have a blame culture we will try not to develop it in the team."

On not considering Younis Khan for the one-day squad, Moin said it was a unanimous decision and not just of the captain or coach. "I can't pinpoint anyone [for overlooking Younis]," Moin said. "Whatever we decide, we decide with the combination of the team, we can't pinpoint when it's a unanimous decision. There's no doubt about Younis, but right now we are taking this combination forward and if Younis performs continuously and there's any gap in the team he could easily fill it and make a comeback."