PCB Connection Camp sees multiple discussions as the team seeks to come out of its bleakest period in cricket history.
PCB Connection Camp, the much-discussed meeting concluded on Monday with a host of issues being discussed.
The two national captains, Shan Masood and Babar Azam, as well as a number of other players had candid discussions regarding a lack of togetherness within the national squad, according to officials and the team management, which included both head coaches Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten. According to officials, this is a plan for consequently rescuing the game from its current state of stagnation.
The camp was during one of Pakistan’s darkest moments in history. A string of catastrophic on-field outcomes along with administrative unrest has sent discontent. Pakistan has lost to USA in the T20 World Cup. Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup. And most recently, Bangladesh 2-0 in a home Test series.
Growing divisions inside the dressing room have been the subject of much speculation, beginning last year and intensifying this year with the selection and prompt dismissal of Shaheen Shah Afridi as Pakistan’s Twenty20 international captain and the reappointment of Babar Azam. When Kirsten, the white-ball coach, began working there, he reportedly was unaware for how much of it there was.
Chief operating officer of the PCB Salman Naseer admitted that the talks had included talk of division, not just between the players and the board but also inside the team.
“The session was about this. That we openly and candidly accept and identify [issues] and ask for a commitment from each other. Demand it. On how we can improve our performances and how we work together as a team.” Naseer said at a press conference in Lahore after the camp ended. “Our unanimous view was that we need to resolve this going forward and need to identify how we do it.”