Sarfraz credits Moin for resurgence
sharjah — A boot camp with a team of army instructors has been a major factor in the changed attitude of Pakistani cricketers in the recent past, according to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed.
Barring a few individuals, Pakistani cricketers in the past would struggle to get past stringent fitness tests. The scenario, however, has changed. “The fitness camp under army supervision paid huge dividends,” he said in an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times on Friday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, where Pakistan play the third Test against West Indies from Sunday.
“The standard of our fitness has unbelievably improved,” the Pakistani T20 skipper pointed out.
To justify his statement he said that the team successfully finished a 50-day tour of England (July 14-Sept 7, 2016) and not a single player was injured. “We salute our army instructors for their efforts that have completely changed our lifestyles.”
“Now I follow a disciplined armyman-like regime for diet, sleeping times as well as training schedules. It has also helped me to improve my game,” pointed out Sarfraz, who has emerged as a key player for the Pakistan cricket team.
Besides the fitness improvement, the team’s self-belief and confidence level seems to have improved in the recent past. “Confidence is the main thing for a player. In the past I wasn’t sure of my place in the team but Moin Khan (then Chief Selector) made my place certain in the team and gave me confidence,” the genial wicketkeeper said.
“Now I have confidence in my own ability as I don’t worry about my place in the team,” he said at the same time confessing that he has butterflies in the stomach the moment he puts on his pads and waits for his turn. “The ‘butterflies’ vanish the moment I step onto the field and look at the sun to adjust my eyes to the light outsdie,” he added with a chuckle.
Sarfraz has the backing of several former players and is seen as a future ODI captain and is even a strong candidate to step into Misbah’s shoes once the veteran hangs his boots. On captaincy, he says: “I believe there should be a strong bond between a captain and his players. It is difficult to perform without understanding each other.”
Talking about his role model: “Every captain has his own way of working but I like Misbah-ul-Haq’s handling of the team. He believes in consultation and never tries to assert his own ideas.”
While talking about the current series the soft-spoken keeper said: “It is a wonderful performance by the team and we will go for a kill in the final Test at Sharjah.”
“Although we have won the series already but we would love to go for a clean sweep in all three formats (T20, ODI and Test),” he concluded.
liaqat@khaleejtimes.com