Miandad for bouncy pitches to prepare CT-bound Pak batters

Karachi:

Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad has insisted on laying bouncy pitches at the National stadium here ahead of the team's second phase of the training camp starting on Saturday, to prepare the batters for the South African conditions during the Champions Trophy.

Miandad confirmed that he had asked the stadium curator Ehsan Arian to prepare seam-friendly pitches in the main ground so that the batsmen could practice on turfs similar to those found in South Africa.

"The players will be mentally prepared for the conditions during the Champions Trophy in South Africa by practicing on such surfaces," Miandad said.

Miandad, who is the Director of Cricket in the Pakistan Cricket Board, is also the batting consultant of the national team and had earlier planned similar pitches in the first phase of the conditioning camp in Lahore.

However, his plans did not materialise as coach Intikhab Alam insisted on dedicating the camp to physical training and counselling sessions with psychologist Maqbool Babri.

Although the players will brush up their cricketing skills in the second phase of the camp here, Intikhab has rubbed Miandad the wrong way by insisting it would be impossible for the former right-hander to remove the inherent technical flaws of Pakistani batsmen in just five days.

However, Miandad felt otherwise and said he could produce wonders in five days time.

"I think I can give valuable tips to the players. Obviously, I am not going to give them complete batting drills or coaching classes. My job is to tell the players about the flaws I have noticed in their techniques and help in removing them," Miandad said.

"I don't think I have to prove my credentials to anyone. When I can spot Wasim Akram in one go and then insist on taking him to New Zealand, I can spot flaws in batsmen also," he added.

Last year, the PCB had offered the coach's role to Miandad, who was in charge of the team thrice earlier, but he refused to take up the job citing personal commitments.