The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has recently organized online sessions for the Pakistan national women’s team with the legendary pacer Wasim Akram and current batting star Babar Azam in order to keep them motivated and focused during the Coronavirus lockdown.
Around 35 Pakistan Women cricketers — current internationals and emerging players attended the interactive sessions via video conference calls wherein Akram and Azam provided insights into challenges with regards to strategy and approach in different conditions.
The online session included a wide range of discussions from preparations to the execution of on-field tactics while the duo stressed the significance of hard work and physical fitness while insisting that patience and temperament are vital keys for success at the international level.
Well, the Women’s players have expressed their delight and happiness over the opportunity to learn from the cricket’s elite given by the PCB to them after interacting with Akram and Azam.
About the sessions, Pakistan women's team captain Bismah Maroof said: “It is very important that the players continue to use this time for their development and learn how they can approach the game in an effective manner when normalcy returns. These sessions are a great step in that direction and every player learned a great deal from them.”
She continued, “Wasim Akram, who is one of the greatest players this nation has produced, provided an insight in what made him such a great player and his session was a great inspiration for me and the team to work harder than before. Listening to him about how he led Pakistan in different situations and in pressure was really helpful.
"It was also wonderful to hear Babar Azam, who continues to impress the world with his pure skill, on how he prepares for a match and approaches different situations. I am thankful to Wasim Akram and Babar Azam for taking their time out for us and the PCB for providing this great learning opportunity.”
Meanwhile, the fast bowler Aiman Anwar said: “I am thankful to the PCB for setting up our session with Wasim Akram, who I always look forward to learning from. He provided some invaluable tips about T20 bowling and told us about the art of reading a batter's mind.
He shared the experiences of his playing days which will help me grow as a player. I am hopeful my interaction with him will help me emerge as a successful bowler.”
While Diana Baig, right-arm medium-fast bowler, said: “The session with Wasim Akram was very inspirational. He spoke about how to use different variations in bowling. He shared how he handled the pressure and how to maintain fitness as a fast bowler, which will help me a great deal.”
On the other hand, the opener Muneeba Ali said: “Our session with Babar Azam turned out to be beneficial for me as Babar shared his mindset with us along with his training regimes. This session helped me in understanding how a world number one batsman operates in pressure situations. I look forward to implementing what I have learned when normalcy returns. I thank Babar for taking his time and the PCB for arranging these sessions for us.”
The batter Iram Javed signed off by saying, “I was very excited for our session with Babar Azam. It was a wonderful session in which I got to learn a lot. He shared experiences of handling pressure as a captain and as a player. It was good to hear about how he sets his goals and works to achieve them. I look forward to implementing what I have learned from him in my game.”
(With IANS Inputs)
