Pakistan’s interim red-ball coach Mike Hesson has acknowledged the disruption surrounding the Test squad after seven of the players were released after the Lord’s Test. However, he believes the players have dealt with the upheaval positively and will compete hard in the third Test at Edgbaston.
Notably, the New Zealander had been in Japan preparing for the Asian Games and was originally scheduled to travel to England for Pakistan’s audience with King Charles on Wednesday. However, his responsibilities suddenly changed Pakistan Cricket Board reshaped the Test squad, sacked the former head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul.
“I was heading over to see the King and be part of a nice occasion. That got expedited. The last couple of days have been challenging for being in a hotel with some players coming, some players going and then the arrival of everyone. The guys are probably more used to a little bit of chaos than I am. There's no doubt they have been disappointed, incredibly disappointed. We've had to park that and go 'righto, where to from here?' They've been really good over the past couple of days,” Hesson said in the press conference.
What happened after the Lord’s Test?
Pakistan have lost the opening two Tests and responded by releasing seven players and announcing their replacements. Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha and Muhammad Rizwan were among some of the senior cricketers that were already out of the squad when Hesson assumed control.
Reflecting upon that, Hesson said his subsequent decisions centred on creating a more varied bowling attack suited to the conditions expected at Edgbaston. Especially after Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Aamir Jamal and Muhammad Awais Jafar were among those released.
On the other hand, Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal have joined the group alongside five uncapped players: Arafat Minhas, Mohammed Imran Jr, Said Baig, Mohammad Imran and Razaullah.
“When I took over, three players had already left the squad – Rizwan, Imam and Salman Ali Agha. From there it was a matter of trying to get a balanced squad for the third Test. I don't think anyone wants these to happen in the middle of a series, clearly not,” said Hesson.
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