Interim head coach of the national cricket team, Saqlain Mushtaq, has said that his “philosophy” of hoisting the country’s flag during training sessions had been working “really nicely”.
As the Men in Green gear up to take on West Indies from December 13-22, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday shared a pre-recorded video of Mushtaq explaining his thought process behind the move.
The team will take on West Indies in the first T20I later today at 6pm at Karachi's National Stadium.
The former off-spinner said that the team is sure to put its “heart and soul, blood and sweat” when players enter the ground out of "respect" for the flag.
“It is a reminder goal for all of us. And we start our day/practice session, be it fielding, batting or bowling, by keeping this [flag] in front of us. I think it’s a great reminder and its working really nicely since we started this philosophy,” Mushtaq said.
The interim head coach of the team also appealed to the team's supporters to pray that the Green Shirts succeed in raising the flag high.
The former Test off-spinner was appointed as the interim head coach only for the New Zealand home series which was cancelled after the visiting team left Pakistan before playing any match. The Black Caps had backed out of its tour due to security concerns minutes before the first match was scheduled to start at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
It was during this time that Mushtaq introduced the tradition of hoisting the national flag during practice sessions. The team continued with the tradition when Mushtaq was asked to continue in his role for the T20 Men's World Cup as well as the series against Bangladesh and West Indies.
Under Mushtaq's tenure, Pakistan began an unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup till they were eliminated in the semi-final. Recently, the Men in Green also defeated Bangladesh on their home ground.
