LAHORE: Improving unity within the national team and strengthening its communication with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were issues that came under discussion during the Connection Camp, which was held at a local hotel here on Monday.

The event — organised by the PCB in order to “devise a clear and unanimous vision for the future of Pakistan cricket” — was attended by a few national team players, its respective Test and white-ball head coaches Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten, and the board’s higher officials.

Pakistan’s recent downfall in the sport saw reports of grouping within the team’s dressing room and the PCB’s chief operating officer Salman Naseer admitted that it was one of the agenda points during the Connection Camp.

“It was an open and transparent session, during which we got to talk to each other with utmost honesty and discussed unity, collaboration and how we can improve our communication,” Salman said during a press conference held after the event.

“Today’s session was held in this regard as well so that we can openly, sincerely and candidly accept, identify and ask for commitment from each other and make demands so that we can improve our performance and also on how we need to work together as a team since it is a team sport.”

Salman acknowledged that it was not only the players who were struggling to perform on the field, and that the board’s management hadn’t been able to control things well too.

The Connection Camp, he said, therefore, was the best way to make the most of the stakeholders’ availability to carry out discussions and find a way forward.

“We have a hectic schedule, and it was the right moment to sit together and discuss matters,” said Salman. “There were three to four important things on which we did brainstorming and I think it was the need of the hour as we all know that the performance of either players or management can be improved.

“Another idea [behind the Connection Camp] was that we sit together to identify the issues, things which can be improved and also our vision and what steps are needed to achieve it.

“So, we built a roadmap on how we can reignite our excellence and what steps are necessary to achieve success.”

Over the past one year, Pakistan have registered defeats against the likes of Afghanistan, Ireland, the United States and Bangladesh across all three formats. The dip in the side’s performance graph left the PCB with no place to hide, with the only option for the body to accept an overhaul was required.

“It was a fantastic time to be part of this session and I think the intention was to align our premises for the team and I think we all agreed that we want the Pakistan team to be as successful as it can be,” said Kirsten. “And today we went through something which can help us. I think we have achieved today what fair amount today in terms of what we can do.

“I think some commitments from the team and the players in terms of level of professionalism are one thing we spoke about and it is really important.

“And I think the commitment around it is to make sure that to present themselves (players) as best they can for the nation and to bring pride back into Pakistan cricket.”

Kirsten said he had been watching the ongoing Champions One-day Cup and believed good cricket was at display in the tournament and that the players participating in it looked promising in terms of the depth of talent in Pakistan.

To a question if the Pakistan players lacked in confidence or there were any fitness problems being faced by them, Test coach Gillespie did not give a clear answer.

“The pride for the players is that they are representing Pakistan and in the session they looked desperate to do well for the country,” said the former Australian pacer.

Among the Pakistan players attending the Connection Camp were white-ball captain Babar Azam, red-ball skipper Shan Masood, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

The team’s assistant coach Azhar Mahmood and high-performance specialist David Reid also took part in the event, which was presided over by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2024