Vernon Philander on the Pakistan players: “It’s just to have the composer to really calm those big ego players and make sure that they go out there and clarity of thought comes to mind”
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Former South Africa fast bowler Vernon Philander has admitted some of the Pakistan players have big egos that need to be calmed down.
He added that some of the cricketers often “get carried away with the crowds and what’s expected of them”, which inflates their pride.
Having served as the men in green’s bowling coach, Philander noted that current white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten will need to manage the players properly and keep them grounded.
“Pakistan cricket in general, I think is a highly talented bunch, and it has been for a number of years. For me, it’s always about how you can calm the egos down. I think you know, in T20 cricket, everyone wants to go out and bash the ball around,” he told PakPassion.
“You know it’s almost sad when [Pakistan] don’t get across the winning line at the end of the day. But I think for me, it’s just to have the composer to really calm those big ego players and make sure that they go out there and clarity of thought comes to mind. I think very often the guys can get carried away with the crowds and what’s expected of them. But I do feel that [Kirsten] will be the guy that can really manage those highly talented players and sometimes like I say there is the ego you know that gets in the way.”
Pakistan are currently involved in a two-match Test series against Bangladesh and find themselves 1-0 down after losing the first Test by 10 wickets.
The second Test got underway on August 30 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi