Former England batter Kevin Pietersen has critiqued the “poor training methods” and a flawed system, drawn from his experiences of playing in the PSL, as the reasons for Pakistan’s poor on-field performances of late.
Pakistan cricket, plagued by internal turmoil and poor performance, finds itself in a dire state, both on and off the field. The recent controversy surrounding the white-ball captaincy has reportedly caused disharmony among the players, further aggravating their inconsistent performances on the ground. They have failed to make the semi-finals of both the ODI World Cup last year and the T20 World Cup in the last year, while their Test fortunes have taken an astonishing tumble.
Pakistan are yet to win a home Test since February 2022 and have now gone 11 matches without a favourable result in the country. Following their series defeat to Bangladesh and their mauling at Multan, Mickey Arthur, former head coach of the men’s national team, shared a few observations on X (formerly Twitter) about what could be going wrong with the team.
Pietersen, who played in the PSL for three years from 2016 to 2018, replied by saying that while the talent in the country is “unreal”, several factors are holding them back.
“From my time playing the PSL, the players don’t train properly and there’s way too much emotion involved in the win or loss. No consistency off the field, so how do you expect it on the field? And I agree, the talent is UNREAL!”
On being asked what is lacking in their training, Pietersen commented: “When I was with Quetta, the players trained too much, instead of training specifics. It’s good to look like you’re putting in long hours, but actually, you’re just tiring your body out. Bowlers would bowl everyday for hours – madness.”
He further said that the players will not play as a unit because the system prevents them from excelling. “Not going to happen when system is flawed. System is deep rooted in poor training methods and high emotions that need improving. If they’re not changed, PAK won’t improve.”
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