September 28 Saturday 2002
My first mission is to boost players' morale: Brig Nasir 

KARACHI: The reappointed manager of Pakistan cricket team, Brig (Retd) Khawaja Nasir said Friday that his mission will be to boost moral of boys and covert them into a fighting unit in the Test series against Australia starting next month. 

"Currently the morale of the team is down after recent defeats but I am going to change the things," Brigadier Nasir said prior to his departure for Colombo (Sri Lanka) to take charge of the team. 

Pakistan will take on Australia in the opening Test of three-match series at Colombo's Saravanamuttu Stadium from October 3, while the next two matches will be played in Sharjah. He dispelled the impressions that formidable Australian will whitewash Pakistan 3-nil in the series in absence of seasoned stars like Saeed Anwar, Wasim Akram, Inzmam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana. 

"It will be a challenging task and real test for me. But I will ask the boys to go out there and fight it out. Pakistan cricketers are quite capable of doing much better than what they have done in last three events in Morocco, Nairobi and ICC Champions Trophy," he asserted. 

Nasir, who replaced Yawar Saeed as the manager, said Pakistan team's main cause of trouble was its batting. "This is the time for new boys to grab this opportunity and prove their worth and potential," he said. 

He admitted that Pakistan team lacked experience "but they have got requisite talent and this is the time they should prove it," he maintained. He said Misbah-ul-Haq had developed into a solid batsman and his string of good scores made him the main batting stay of the team at the moment. He said Younis Khan will be more responsible after being appointed vice captain of the team. "He (Younis) is disciplined and methodical," Nasir pointed out. 

Brig. Nasir said Faisal Iqbal, Taufiq Umer, Imran Farhat, Hasan Raza had great potential and it was time for them to deliver. He said Hasan Raza struck two hundreds against Sri Lanka A as a captain during Sri Lankan tour and his recent century against touring Sri Lanka A at Faisalabad earned him a recall in the national team. 

Brig. Nasir said that as he had served the national team in the past, he enjoyed a good rapport and strong communication with the boys.