While Pakistan coach Waqar Younis concentrates on the
physical training of players, the team’s new manager Naveed Akram Cheema
will stress on discipline during the camp that starts tomorrow for the
upcoming tour of Zimbabwe.
The week-long camp at Qaddafi Stadium, Lahore, will be held in two
sessions with the team departing for Zimbabwe on August 25 for the tour
that includes a one-off Test, three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and two
Twenty20s.
According to the team manager, the first session of the training
camp, from 3 to 6 pm, will see players practise in the nets apart from
having fielding drills. Players will spend the second session in the
gym.
Manager to be seen in action
However, the camp will not be restricted to just physical training of
players as Cheema has planned disciplinary lectures for players during
the whole week.
“The camp will not just be about training,” Cheema told The Express Tribune.
“I’ll be giving lectures before the training sessions for around a couple of hours as guidelines on maintaining discipline.
“Players will also be informed about the strict penalties they might
face for discipline breaches and each one of them will have to attend
the lectures.”
Cheema, who replaced Intikhab Alam for the Zimbabwe series, said he
has taken the tour as a mission and will give his best to avoid any
controversy that features the national team members.
‘Scandals have hit Pakistan hard’
Pakistan lost three players – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad
Amir – over their role in a spot-fixing scandal while disputes with the
management also cost former captain Shahid Afridi his place in the
team.
Cheema was keen to make a fresh controversy-free start. “My target
will be to avoid controversies and scandals that have affected the
national team a lot.
“I would not hesitate in taking action against any player to ensure discipline during the tour.”
County players to attend camp
Meanwhile, the manager informed that fast-bowler Junaid Khan
(Lancashire) and Saeed Ajmal (Worcestershire) have been released by
their county sides for national duty.
“Both of them will attend the camp. Junaid has arrived and Ajmal is expected to join the camp [today],” added Cheema.
Pakistan start the tour with a two-day warm-up game against Zimbabwe
XI at Bulawayo on August 28 before the only Test commences from
September 1 at the same venue.
Afridi expects close contest
Former captain Shahid Afridi said that he expects Zimbabwe to stand
up and offer a tough fight to Pakistan. Zimbabwe, on their Test return
after a self-imposed six-year exile, outclassed Bangladesh and the
former captain felt their performance makes the upcoming series
interesting. “Zimbabwe are playing good cricket,” Afridi told reporters
in Karachi. “I’m expecting good matches in the series considering
Zimbabwe’s performance who will also have the home advantage.”
New By : Express Tribune
0 comments:
Post a Comment