PCB may send Pakistan’s rising talents to US for power-hitting training camp: Mike Hesson
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "PCB may send Pakistan’s rising talents to US for power-hitting training camp: Mike Hesson")
PCB may send Pakistan’s rising talents to US for power-hitting training camp Photograph: (Others)
PCB to send Pakistan's rising cricket talents, including young pacer Ali Raza, to the US for an intense four-month power-hitting and fitness training camp.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is exploring the viability of sending a handful of promising cricketers to the US as part of a specialised power-hitting program. While the logistics are not yet complete, a final call on the list of players to travel is also underway, Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson confirmed.
The multi-month initiative is designed not only to enhance players’ power-hitting in an alien environment, but also to work on the fitness regimes of brighter talents whose careers have been marred by injuries.
"We're sending some players to the US. There's some power-hitting expertise over there, and we're exploring some options. We've got some players who've had some longer-term injuries, and players we want to expose to different methods of power hitting and just a different learning environment, spending four months in one place to get some new fresh ideas,” Hesson said in a chat with Cricinfo.
Re-engineering Pakistan's fitness standards
Hesson also highlighted that this program doesn’t just serve a single purpose but multiple, including changing the way players are trained. His comments have come on the back of PCB’s Director of Sports and Exercise Medicine, Dr Javed Mughal, who, earlier in a presser, said that 'fitness is non-negotiable in professional sport', and that the PCB developed a 'robust, reliable and repeatable testing and screening battery we had started to apply to all players.'
"There's a bit of collaboration. It's certainly not just strength and conditioning," Hesson said. “We've got Javed Mughal, who's come in here and changing the way players are training and assessing them in a different way. So he needs time to plan it out as well.”
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Young pacers among those travelling to the US
Under-19 quick Ali Raza, often regarded as the most exciting white-ball prospect in Pakistan, is among the players likely to be sent to the US, should the plan materialise. Raza, 18, has shown promise, including his match-winning performance against India in the final of the 50-over U19 Asia Cup last year, where he picked up four wickets for 42 runs. He also accounted for India's teenage prodigy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, early in the innings. Representing Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL, Raza also picked up his maiden tournament hat-trick, later helping them lift the title.
Raza, however, is yet to make his international debut, with the PCB keen to prioritise and manage his fitness and workload.
"Pace bowling-wise, there's no more injuries [within Pakistan] than there are anywhere else in the world," Hesson said. "We're trying to get Ali Raza fit and strong enough to deal with the demands of international cricket. It's tough trying to be able to bowl multiple spells and sustain his pace. We know when he's at his top-end pace, he's exciting. But when the pressure ramps up, the pressure on the body ramps up. So he's got to work on his body so he can deal with those.”
