 |
Interview with Mohsin Khan. |
|
Interview with Mohsin Khan. |
| CricInfo player profile on Mohsin Khan The official Pakistan Cricket Board internet site. CricInfo Interactive's interview archive the googler's Pakistan page. #cricket home page |
Mohsin Khan
was one of Pakistan's leading opening batsmen. He appeared in 48 Tests and 75 One Day Internationals for Pakistan.
He scored 7 centuries with a 200 at Lords in tests and 2 in ODI's. He took some time out from his present assignment
as the Training Camp Commandant of the Pakistani players preparing for the 1998-99 season to chat to us on the
IRC channel #cricket, live from Lahore on 1 June 1998. Questions were accepted via the live chat channel and via
email. Suhael Ahmed assisted Mohsin in the interview while Naren Arcot (arcturus on IRC) was the moderator. arcturus: Mohsin Khan is here with us now. A former Pakistan batsman, filmstar and now the training camp commandant for the national team of Pakistan. On behalf of Cricinfo and IRC #cricket, I welcome Mohsin Khan today. MohsinKhan: Thank you very much I am very honored that I am here on this internet channel. Faisal Butt, Qatar: What steps are you taking to improve Shahid Afridis batting style, i.e., make it more orthrodox? MohsinKhan: He is basically a hard hitting batsman, all we need to do with him is to make him control his innings because he is capable of winning a match for you. Faisal Butt: Why isn't Shoaib Akhtar in the squad for the fitness camp? MohsinKhan: Faisal, you will be very pleased to know that he is there now. TJ Power, New Zealand: Where do you think Pakistan at present deserve to rank among the nations in Test cricket and again in one-day cricket? MohsinKhan: I personally feel that Pak is definitely one of the best teams in the world. As far as ranking is concerned you cannot rank the teams as No 1 or 2 etc because as far as ODI cricket is concerned it depends on the days result there are teams like Aus, WI, SRL, Ind, RSA, Pak, NZ, Eng, they are all superb teams even now for instance Kenya who recently beat India has proved that they are a very tough opposition. Coming back to Pak, and as I said before, I feel that they are in the top three. arcturus, USA: Do you see anything positive coming out of frequent leadership changes for Pakistan? I meant leadership in reference with cricket? MohsinKhan: Well arcturus, at the moment I dont see many changes coming up as far as the leadership is concerned but all I can say that at the present moment Pakistans leadership has got tough contenders like in Wasim Akram, Aamer Sohail, Saeed Anwar, Moin Khan and obviously if the PCB stays on with Rashid Latif. arcturus: thank you. Ahmed Qadeer, Germany: In what form was the morale of Pakistani Internationals when you took charge compared to now? MohsinKhan: I dont want to boost myself but I can very proudly say that it has been the fifth day today with me being with the Pak Intl's and the way all the players are working hard in the camp in this heat of around 45 C is something tremendous to watch. Ahmed Qadeer: Are you sure that Pakistan can win the next coming world cup? MohsinKhan: Well its very difficult to say for sure but as far as if your approach is positive then positive results are very much possible. We are working hard, and very hard! and Inshallah, it will be not even our desire but with great motivation we will win the World Cup. Greg Chapman, Australia: In reference to Aus vs Pak series, would like to know, which players in the Pakistan side does Australia look out for and similarly which Aussie players do the Pakistan players take extra caution on? MohsinKhan: From the Pak side, the danger men for the Aussies as far as batting is concerned are Saeed Anwar, AAmer Sohail, Inzi, Azhar Mahmood and at times Moin Khan. As far as bowling, I think the key factor for the Aussies will be to handle Wasim Akram, Mushie, and Saqlain. For the Pakistanis, definitely the Waugh brothers and the best leg spinner in the world Shane Warne. Asif Mehdi, New Zealan: Do you think the Pakistani team needs some new and good talented batsmen? MohsinKhan: Asif, at the moment I think Pakistan team has got a very good batting line up which even goes down to No.10 as you can see that a player of Azhar Mahmood's caliber batting so low down the order, that shows how much depth is there in the batting. Asif Mehdi: Who would you favor as the best candidate for the Pakistani team coach? MohsinKhan: At the moment the PCB has given me this responsibility and with all my cricketing past experience and a lot of effort as far as the fitness of the players and the fielding improvements which are the two major factors as far as losing or winning, play a great part for a team and inshallah, with all the hard work, I will try my best to prove myself worthy for this assignment. Asif Mehdi: Did you like your visit to New Zealand... your comments please? MohsinKhan: Yes, NZ is a beautiful country with very nice people and I toured there twice in my cricketing career and had a great time on the field and off the field. :-) Majid, Sweden: About your relationship with Imran Khan, your opinions about Imran and how your relationship with him is at the moment? MohsinKhan: Even in Pakistan, a lot of people thought and still think that we are related to each other but we are not. We are both Pathans and that is the relationship we have! As far as my opinion about Imran is concerned, I think so far in Pakistan's cricket he was the best Capatain we had because he was a very hard working cricketer and he used to set very positive examples for his players. As far as his personality is concerned he is a great Human Being and the biggest example for his greatness is the Cancer Hospital which he has built with a lot, and a lot, of hard work and to finish up talking about his greatness, he built a cancer hospital after the death of his mother that shows that he has done this job for humanity and not for his personal reasons. David Livermore, Canada: What tips would you give a young cricketer keen to make it to the top? MohsinKhan: Hard work, dedication, fitness and the most important is discipline and sicerity towards the game. And obviosly always remember one thing, good education plays a great part in your personality and your bright future. Afridi, Karachi: What effect does the present tensions between India and Pakistan politically have on cricket between the two countires in the near future (Sahara Cup, for instance). MohsinKhan: Cricket is a beautiful game and has nothing to do with politics rather it eliminates politics and that is the best thing about sports. Afridi: Will County players play in recent (future - ed) series? MohsinKhan: They will defitiely play in future series the only reason their names are not in the camp list is because at the moment they are busy with their county committments till early Sept and as soon as they are back, the PCB is planning another camp with the whole lot so they can get used to Pak conditions once again. Afridi: Is there any new bowling talent training under you that you'ld like to mention? MohsinKhan: At the moment the camp which is only 5 days old we are just concentrating on the fitness of the players, we do have 5 to 6 new youngsters in the camp and looking at their positve motivation I feel that we defitely will have some wonderful surprise. A very good news for the Pak team is that Mohammad Zahid the fast bowler who had a superb start to his career but unfortunately due to his back problem was out of the team is now fit and back! Usman Ejaz, Karachi: How do the selectors decide on who to appoint as captain? MohsinKhan: Usman, it is not only the selectors who decide the captain, it is actually the selectors, the chairman, the CEO, and the Council who do it. Usman Ejaz: What do you think are the main problems which are facing the current players and the team? MohsinKhan: I think there are two major problems with the team, one, the fitness and two, the team spirit. I am trying very hard to work on this because as far as the players are concerned, individually they are the world beaters. Usman Ejaz: Do you think that Rashid has brought any new changes in the team game play (plan-ed)? MohsinKhan: I am afraid not and the only reason for that the poor chap was out of the team for quite sometime and its very difficult for a player to come in as a captain after a long gap and bring changes in just one series. Usman Ejaz: What do you think should be more important to the players, County or Country? (arcturus: I think he is referring to Pakistani players only). MohsinKhan: ok moment pls MohsinKhan: Definitely country, which should be first always and is to the players, but PCB does not object to the players when they go to play county cricket because in the county season Pakistans cricket season is almost off but as you can see that whenever Pak team is committed with international cricket the players are always called back from their county comittments. Usman Ejaz: Which team currently has the best pace attack and why would you say that? MohsinKhan: Pakistan has the best pace attack because I personally feel that Wasim Akram is the best fast bowler in the world and with him there are bowlers like Waqar, Shoaib Akhtar and if you have a bowler like Azhar Mahmood backing up what else can ask more. Mynn, USA: Recently Pak has played both Rashid and Moin in it's batting lineup. Don't you think that's a bit extravagant, even considering the fact that Moin is a decent batsman. Would'nt it have been better to play a specialist bat instead? MohsinKhan: I totally agree with you and I am sure that in future we will take care of it. Adeel, Karachi: Would like to know your impressions of Shahid Afridi as an international level cricket player. MohsinKhan: Defintely he is an international level player, all he needs is to just discipline himself with his stroke making and we are working on it ! :-) Jamie, Australia: Do you think gambling is a problem, or has been a problem, within the Pakistan team? MohsinKhan: I think there is no such problem within the Pak team. These are only rumours and actually Pakistanis are very emotional people and they take cricket very seriously and if the Pak team loses they react very harshly and emotionally and some quarters exploit the team with these negative media coverage. I can assure you that there is no such problem. Adeel, Karachi: Do you think Salim Malik will be back? He had said that Haroon Rashid is responsible for his exclusion. MohsinKhan: Let me assure you that Haroon Rashid is not the kind of person who would exclude a player of Salim Maliks caliber for any personal reasons. Salim's exclusion was the decision of the Selectors for fitness reasons and I am sure as soon as Salim Malik proves himself fully fit he'd be back in the team. Toby Clayton, Australia: Which was your favourite innings at test level - can you mention any personal highlights of your cricket career? MohsinKhan: On paper, my best innings was 200 at Lords but personally speaking the innings which gave me the biggest joy of my cricketing career was at Melbourne I think in 1985, against Aus, where I scored 152 against Lillee, Thompson and Lawson. Badri. India: Mohsin, do you feel there is too much ODI cricket vs Tests? MohsinKhan: Yes Mr Badri, you are 100% right but I think the reason for this is that perhaps there too much commercialism now in cricket plus I think the crowd or the viewers are very much keen to see a result in a short time. But then again, I myself would love to see test cricket more than one day cricket. Keith, South Africa: Is a test World Cup a good idea? MohsinKhan: Keith, I think that is very good question you have asked and why not. Finding the time is the problem. Iquisit, UK: What you think are the problems with the 1 day team? MohsinKhan: I dont think we have any problem with the Pak team but as you know cricket is a very funny game you cannot prdict a result for sure till the last ball of the match is bowled especially in ODIs. Every new day in OD cricket is totally a different day as far as the results are concerned. One Day you are on top of the world and the next day you may be down in the dumps and I can very surely say this that every team in the world faces the same problem. Deon, South Africa: Most Pakistani players take either critical or passive standpoints on issues concerning the PCB's handling of Pakistani cricket -how about yourself ? MohsinKhan: If the players do take either critical or passive standpoints on the issues concerning the PCB there must be a point behind it. Frankly speaking no cricket board in the world tries to create problems for their players purposely. Boards also have their problems and sometimes the players have to bear them. MohsinKhan: Last Q please. Murari, India: Who were the best bowler/bat/fielder you've played against? MohsinKhan: Murari, actually speaking it wont be fair to call for one bowler because in my career I played against some tremendous bowlers like Dennis Lillee, Holding, Garner, Marshall, Sir R Hadlee and on the batsmen again like Greg Chappell, Sunil, Sachin, and lots more and on fielders, I feel Derek Randell, Gus Logie come up to my mind. MohsinKhan: I have to go to the camp now. arcturus: Thank you Mr. Khan for this delightful time. We wish you the best and hope to meet you again soon. MohsinKhan: I have thoroughly enjoyed being here and having a chance to get on the net. Thank you all and my best wishes. arcturus: Thanks to eveyrone who contributed to this Suhael for his part in organizing the interview and all our viewers with questions. Our thanks to the Pakistan Cricket Board for making this interview possible. |
About CI Interactive |
Classifieds | CricInfo InterActive Home
Date-stamped : 02 Jun1998 - 18:13