Miandad aims at making Pakistan a winning combination (29 Aug 1998)

LAHORE, Aug 28: Senior cricket team coach Javed Miandad, a former Pakistan Test captain, said here today that his first mission was to guide the Pakistan team to an emphatic win against India in the Sahara Cup five-match cricket series commencing at

29-Aug-1998

29 August 1998

Miandad aims at making team a winning combination

By Ilyas Beg

Addressing a press conference here at the Qadhafi Stadium, Miandad said: "We will not be overawed by strength of any team and will take the field without getting under pressure. Even the absence of any senior player will not psychologically affect the Pakistan team which will fight in every match, leading up to the seventh World Cup tournament in England next year."

Replying to questions, Miandad, who formally took over the charge of the camp here on Thursday, stated that he would fully utilise the powers vested in him. He had enough experience to "smell" foul-play and he would not tolerate any incident of indiscipline.

"Any one guilty of indiscipline will be dealt with an iron-hand. Without being influenced by standing or stature of any errant player, I will ask him to pack up and go home," Miandad said in a firm voice.

Miandad said that he had been noting down shortcomings of the team and players. He said that he would try to remove them during training. He would work out a strategy for the Sahara Cup matches. He said that special attention will be given to technical problems.

"If fielding of the South African team is good, what is the harm in adopting their method of training?" he asked.

Miandad defended the appointment of an organiser and former first-class cricketer Azhar Zaidi as a manager. He said that he had been a member of the teams which toured abroad in his managership and all the tours had been free of any controversy or bad incident.

While replying to a question about the non-availability of Test stars, Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq, for the Sahara Cup, Miandad said that he believed in ground realities and would like to make strategies keeping in view the strength of the opposition and that of our own side.

"I would like to see that the selected players give their best in the matches. I also will make them fight in every match. The junior players will be trained in such a way that after four or five years, others would follow them," said Miandad.

Miandad said that he was offered the coaching job by other countries but he preferred to take up the responsibility in his own country. He said that coaching in Brunei was his private affair and no one had much knowledge about that. He said that whatever had been printed by some newspapers was based on "conjectures".

Miandad stated that in Toronto he would study pitches and try to grasp their behaviour.

"In every new cricket centre, there is a problem of awkward behaviour of pitches. But with the passage of time, the organisers there start preparing excellent pitches like the ones being now prepared in Sharjah," said Miandad, who won unprecedented fame by hitting a winning six in Pakistan's victory over India at Sharjah in 1986.

Miandad said that he would evolve a system to make an all-round improvement in the Pakistan team and if any one tried to disturb the process,"he would quit without the slightest hesitation."

The former middle-order batsman said that after selection of the Pakistan team, he would be able to concentrate fully on a smaller number of players. Before departure of the team for Toronto, three or four matches would be organised. The shortcomings noted during those games would be removed before the team leaves for Toronto.

When asked to name his number in the batting order in the Sahara Cup matches, Miandad jokingly said:"It will be number 15, I think!"

Miandad bitterly criticised that too much emphasis is laid on limited-over matches which was hindering the grooming of high class players. Changes made in rules, such as restriction on bouncers, short-pitched deliveries and number of fielders have changed the thinking of players, who have lost the interest in learning technique and finer points of the game. That is the reason why not many high class players were not produced on the international scene, he stated.

"In seventies and eighties there were over one hundred high class international cricketers. The changes in rules have altered the trend of the game and now not many cricketers get opportunities to mould themselves into top class players," Miandad lamented.

While replying to a question of bitter memories of the past, Miandad said that he had forgotten all those "sad stories which were a thing of the past" and he was now concentrating only on his new role of building a strong Pakistan team.

Miandad said that all Test umpires must be treated equally. "It was not only Javed Akhtar. Other experienced umpires Peter Willey and Mervyn Kitchen also made mistakes of judgment."

Replying to a question about his policy for picking a player Miandad said: "Every player desiring to be chosen in the Pakistan team will have to perform. No one will be picked on his reputation alone."

Source :: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)