New Delhi, May 3
Former cricketer Rashid Latif has came out in support of the Pakistan Cricket Board's thought behind sending the senior men's team for training at an Army camp.
The PCB had adopted a unique approach for training the men's national team ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024. The Babar Azam-led side trained at the Army School of Physical Training in Kakul.
The Pakistan team was put through a gruelling training session after complaints were raised to the PCB about the team's fitness standards during the ODI World Cup in 2023.
It received a negative response from the netizens, people laughed it off. However, Rashid Latif praised the PCB move.
"See, the condition of the team was not looking very good... a little tension was visible within the team. They got a chance to stay together in an army training camp. If there would have been any camp in Lahore or Karachi then everyone would have stayed on mobile. When the day would have ended, they would go to their rooms, use their mobile phones and in the morning come again," the former wicketkeeper-batter told IANS in an exclusive chat.
"There were no mobile phones, no more distractions and everyone had to remain together in the army training, which helped in building the bonding among the players.
"I agree that cricket-specific training should be preferred. But the reason was that perhaps the team had some sort of tension and that is why they were sent for that training. To improve team bonding," he added.