PCB hires ex-ODI player to groom youngsters

Karachi: With indiscipline among players becoming a major headache for the Pakistan Cricket Board, it has decided to hire former batsman Moin-ul-Atiq to help in character building of youngsters enrolled at its national and regional cricket academies.

Moin, who played five one-day internationals for Pakistan, has a masters degree in sports management from the University of Lancashire in England and is also an MBA in marketing from a University in Karachi.

"My job is to basically give lectures to the players the theme of which is character building and how to be positive about the game and their future plans," Moin said.

He said the board had initiated the programme as it was felt there was a need to educate and groom young players so that they can be focused on their game.

The move to hire Moin comes at a time when experts, critics and former players have called on the board to initiate grooming programmes for its players and educate them on their basic responsibilities as national players.

After a string of controversies ranging from doping scandals to discipline issues, the feeling in the PCB was that there is a need to groom and educate the players.

Moin, who had played under Imran Khan, said many a young players come from humble backgrounds and they need guidance.

Faisal Mamsa, a behavioural psychiatrist, also felt there was issue with players from humble backgrounds and they find it difficult to deal with glamour and glitz of cricket.

"The board needs to have a clear cut code on how the players should behave and there should be no leniency shown to anyone. The problem is if a senior player gets away with something wrong the junior player says 'if he can do it why can't I'," Mamsa said.

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