Pakistan head coach eyes squad depth as focus shifts to ODI World Cup

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson is focused on building greater quality and depth within the ODI setup as attention gradually turns towards next year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

“Look, I think with one day cricket with the World Cup in mind, in a year and a half, you know, we have to widen the group. So rather than the same players always being selected, the ODI squad is a work in progress. And there’s a number of areas we need to develop.

“And we need to make sure come the World Cup in a year and a half that we’ve actually got the best squad,” said Mike Hesson.

Their first assignment in preparation for next year’s marquee event will be the upcoming home ODI series against Australia.

Leading up to the series, Mike Hesson and his coaching staff have organised a white-ball camp aimed at assessing both emerging talent and established names within Pakistan’s.

“The last two weeks have been a good chance for us to identify some of that new talent, challenge them against some of the existing stuff, or existing players, and work out where the gaps are, you know, because some of these young guys are promising, but, you know, still got a lot of work to do,” said the the Pakistan head coach.

The 16-member squad for Pakistan features several young players, with Mike Hesson viewing the upcoming series against Australia as an ideal challenge for the side’s emerging talent.

Australia, meanwhile, will also be eager to make a strong statement after a disappointing result in the T20I series earlier this year, where Pakistan secured a dominant 3-0 series win.

“With the likes of Fakir Zaman and Saim Ayub, Usman Khan all sort of being out, it gives some opportunities for us to look at some younger ones, particularly in the batting side.

“They’ll be exposed to an Australian side who’ll be hurting from their performance over here last time.”

“Their squad looks strong and they’ll be coming over here. ODI cricket is probably one of their stronger formats at the moment. That group is certainly probably better than their T20 at the moment.”

With several youngsters included in the squad, the head coach urged patience and stressed that development remains the primary objective as these players take their first steps in international cricket.

“I guess there needs to be a little bit of patience with some of these younger players because, sure, it would be great if they come in straight away and perform, but reality in international cricket is not everybody can do that.

“Sometimes it takes a little bit of time to feel that you’re confident enough to perform,” he added. — (KIMS)