PakPassion.net spoke with the Mohsin Khan, the coach of the Pakistani team that emerged as winners in all 3 formats in the recently concluded series against Sri Lanka in the UAE, where he shared his thoughts on the one day series, the players that he is working with, the upcoming series’ against Bangladesh and England.

By Saj Sadiq (November 25, 2011)

Pakistan wrapped up deserving series’ victories in all three formats against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates. The “home” side largely dominated their Asian rivals and played the better cricket throughout the series.

PakPassion.net spoke with Coach Mohsin Khan on his thoughts on the one day series, the players that he is working with, the upcoming series’ against Bangladesh and England.

The One Day Series

“First of all I am thankful to the Almighty for the series victories. The players deserve a lot of credit for their efforts and they did a great job in the test series. We all know that Sri Lanka is one of the top cricketing nations especially in one day cricket. We were expecting a tough one day series against them and after this series I must say I am really pleased with the performance of the boys and the way they approached the series. The whole squad were very determined and their application was there for all to see. The players wanted to continue the good form shown in the test matches and wanted to show the world that they are a good one day side.”


Working with this Group of Players

“Captain Misbah ul Haq and the team have done a great job. I am just trying to help the boys and doing my job but at the end of the day the players deserve a tremendous amount of credit for their hard work. I was expecting the one day series to be a lot closer but I had a lot of faith in my team. Taking nothing away from Sri Lanka, but I knew that my team had a lot of potential and I felt that when I was given the job of coaching this group of players it was a case of trying to get the best out of them.”

“There is an unbelievable amount of talent in this group of players and if they play according to their potential we can take on any team in the world, anywhere. My sole aim in taking on the job of coach was that I wanted to get the best of these boys and to ensure they fulfil their potential and to work on areas of their game which was slightly lacking. The team has been doing very well in the last year or so, but I still felt that they could have done better when I was Chief Selector. Even now I feel that despite the good results there is scope to improve as individuals and as a team and we will continue to work on those aspects.”


The Pitches in the UAE for the One Day Series

“The pitches weren’t really friendly for one day cricket. The ball was seaming, stopping and gripping off the pitch which becomes a bit difficult for the batsmen to go for their shots. I’m not saying the pitches are bad, but I think with the new rule changes and the nature of the pitches, then the expected large scores were not possible from either the Sri Lankans or Pakistan.”


Umar Akmal’s Progress

“Umar has played 2 marvellous innings in the one day series. I was pleased with the innings of 91 in the second one day international but he was out playing an immature shot which is not what the team needed. In the next 2 matches he didn’t get many runs but his innings in the final 50 over match was very mature. He approached the innings properly after I had told him that I did not want him to change his style but I did want him to change his approach towards cricket. I told him that if you are a top order batsman then you have to show more responsibility and you must try to win matches for Pakistan and he did that in the fifth match of the one day series. The kind of innings that Umar (Akmal) played in the fifth one dayer was a very responsible innings which comprised of some exuberant shots and he showed a lot of responsibility and patience and this is exactly the kind of Umar Akmal I want to see in future.“


Bangladesh Series

“They cannot be taken lightly as they will have home advantage and we have to be very careful and I think it will be a very good series in Bangladesh. They always try hard and the upcoming series will be no different. The pressure will be on Pakistan as we will undoubtedly start as favourites and will be expected to win in Bangladesh. As the underdogs, Bangladesh have nothing to lose and I’m sure they will come hard at us and look to upset ourselves. However I am very confident of my team and their ability and the way they are playing at the moment, but let’s maintain our focus as we will have to play good cricket to beat Bangladesh.”


England Series

“England are undoubtedly one of the best teams in the world in all formats and I expect that series to be a real test for Pakistan. However I like tough challenges and tests and I will tell my players to rise to the challenge of playing one of the best sides in the world. The phrase that springs to mind is ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’ and that is the message that I will want to convey to the squad when they come up against England.”