Mike Hesson stands firm on the players he wants for Pakistan after being appointed as white-ball coach for Pakistan.
Mike Hesson stands firm as he lays down expectations over the type of players he will be picking for the Pakistan white-ball side.
According to Mike Hesson, Pakistan’s new white-ball coach, the idea of using specialised batters in T20 cricket is “outdated.” In an extensive in-house interview with the PCB, Hesson stated that the foundational elements established during Pakistan’s decisive 3-0 T20I victory over Bangladesh were representative of the style of cricket he will push his team to play going forward.
“You have to be multi-skilled,” Hesson said. “The idea of just specialist batters is very much outdated. Not everyone can read a pitch to a point where you know that these five bowlers are going to be perfect. If you’ve got 6, 7, 8 options that the captain can turn to, then, say, you’ve got two right-handers at the crease, you can bring on your left-arm spinner. You’ve got offspinners, who, if you get particular matchups, can do a job.
“They might only be one or two overs, but that gives the captain the flexibility then at the back end to pick his best bowlers on that day. And that’s why I look at it both ways. You’ve got to cover both areas. You’ve got to be above par with the bat and you’ve got to be below par with the ball and that’s the way we’ll be trying to operate.”
It was a strategy used during Pakistan’s just finished series against Bangladesh. To defend their score, which was the joint-highest in their T20I history, the hosts utilised eight bowlers in the second game. They utilised seven bowlers in the other two games, which is something they had only done 14 times in 261 Twenty20 International matches. Salman Agha and Saim Ayub, two players who were mainly selected for their batting prowess, contributed bowling shifts.
“You’ve got to understand what the team culture is and then try and [improve upon] that,” Hesson said. “There’s no doubt there are some skills that need to be developed with all of our players and that’s just part of evolution for me. Fielding is critical in white ball cricket; there’s no room in a squad for somebody that can’t. You just can’t hide people in the field these days. So that’ll be a real push for me.”