Coach Miandad on Pakistan tour to Sri Lanka. 
‘Sri Lanka tour tough assignment for Pakistan’](http://www.jang-group.com/thenews/apr2003-daily/17-04-2003/sports/s4.htm)
KARACHI: Pakistan coach Javed Miandad has described the forthcoming tour to Sri Lanka as a tougher assignment for the Pakistan team than the quadrangular series held recently in Sharjah. “It is going to be a tougher assignment because I would rate New Zealand and Sri Lanka as better and stronger teams than us at the moment,” Miandad told ‘The News’ from Lahore.
“We (myself, captain Rashid Latif and manager Haroon Rasheed) have told the boys that they need to put the Sharjah victory behind them now and start thinking about Sri Lanka. We have told them they need to work on a policy of taking it series to series and not think about the past or long term future assignments,” he added.
“We have to be realistic and realize that we are not going to rebuild the team in a short while. This is going to be a process of trial and error before we find the players for the long term future.”
The 45 year old Miandad said he was puzzled at questions being asked about the ability of the present bunch of Pakistan players against teams like Australia or South Africa. “I don’t understand why we are thinking about Australia or South Africa at this stage. I have also told the players they must just concentrate on the moment and the series they are playing. When the time comes to play South Africa or Australia we will adapt to them also,” :k: he said.
“It is only if we do consistently well and keep on improving against the teams we are playing in our immediate assignments that we can look forward to the future with a positive frame of mind. For us in this rebuilding process it is the present that matters and with time everything will fall into place and the players will also mature.”
He said similarly questions were being posed about the Test matches. “Why worry about the Tests now. At present I just want us to concentrate on One-day cricket and do well there.” The former Pakistan captain had no doubt that there was lot of cricket talent in the country but it required to be polished a lot.
**“From what I saw today it seems most of the players have been told that if they hit a few fours and sixes or just bowl fast they can make the Pakistan team. I saw poor defensive techniques and lack of concentration and stamina. But it is not an alarming situation.”
“Because when we went to Sharjah, we had a depleted squad short on confidence. But the reason for our success was that the boys wanted to learn and adopt accordingly and they were hungry for cricket. I think we managed to combine all these aspects and worked on our little weaknesses to produce satisfactory results. The same will also happen with the players selected from the trials for the academy programme they have the ability to improve.”**
Miandad pointed out that even when superstar players like Wasim Akram or Inzamam-ul-Haq first came into the Pakistan team they were raw and required guidance and advice. “We were there to guide them and they had the potential to pick up and improve quickly. I think the players now coming up can also establish themselves if they want to learn. No one becomes a good international player overnight.”
Miandad had a lot of praise for chief selector Aamer Sohail and his colleagues for holding the long process of trials. “I think they are very sincere and doing a hard work. Their approach is the correct way to define and separate proper talent which has the ability to play for Pakistan or just remain good for domestic cricket.”
He said he was keen to have the national camp for the Sri Lanka tour from around 23rd or 24th April so that the pool of players selected from the trials and those who went to Sharjah can start thinking and playing cricket.
If Razzaq wouldn’t be around, it’s not good for Pakistan, means Thumbs Down, not Thumbs Up
