Nadeem underscores need for mental growth in players' development.

Byline: Khalid H. Khan

KARACHI -- Generally every new appointment at the top raises hopes of betterment on all fronts. In his maiden interaction with the media a day after being named as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)'s Director High Performance, Nadeem Khan outlined a series of plans to improve the overall structure of the sport, including the mental growth of individual players.

'No doubt there are massive challenges of what I foresee as exciting times for Pakistan cricket. The task in front will also allow me to implement a system based on sheer merit,' Nadeem said during Thursday's video conference. 'I'm extremely grateful to the PCB for giving me the opportunity of serving the country. I have worked closely with PCB on various assignments both with the present and previous managements. In my earlier stints I worked as Pakistan Under-19 [team] manager and also served on the cricket committee besides my role as the coordinator to the national selection committee.'

The former Pakistan international further vowed to utilise his experience both as a past cricketer and administrator in the new setup of National High Performance Centre - which replaces the National Cricket Academy.

'Looking at this new role, I take it as a big responsibility and I hope to deliver the task to the best of my ability considering my experience of playing and managing cricket over the years. Down the line I will be heading both departments, with regards to domestic cricket,' Nadeem said. 'All cricket boards around the world strive to develop a domestic system which narrows the gap between domestic and international cricket as much as possible so the players can transit easy from domestic to international cricket.

'Personally speaking the one area where a lot can be achieved is the mental growth of players. Other nations pay a huge amount of attention to this facet while developing their players. I will leave no stone unturned because unless we have players who are mentally strong, we cannot strive to reach the top.'

Commenting on merging of domestic cricket and high performance, the ex-Test slow left-armer observed it was something he always advocated whenever he appeared on various platforms.

'I am glad that I am joining the PCB in an exciting phase when the two departments [domestic and high performance] are being merged. I have always thought that these two departments have the same role to deliver which is the development of top-class players,' he emphasised...