Aggression is a ‘necessity’ for every player in the Pakistan squad: Bradburn

Pakistan head coach Grant Bradburn, ahead of his side’s departure to Sri Lanka for the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan starting next week, made it clear that he and his support staff are not going to request but ‘demand’ his players to play aggressive cricket, in order to keep up with the rapidly-moving and rapidly-evolving modern game. 

Bradburn, who was appointed Pakistan’s head coach in May, has been open and honest about wanting his side to play a very belligerent, aggressive brand of cricket and the Men in Green did just that in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka last month. Pakistan’s batting rate in the previous WTC cycle had been hovering around the 2.5 mark, but against Sri Lanka, they were unrecognizable as they scored at a rate of 4.1, displaying never-seen-before aggression.

Now, as the World Cup swing begins, starting with the Afghanistan series and then the Asia Cup, Bradburn wants his side to display the same aggression. 

"We're not training to show skills in the nets. We are looking to use those skills in the game. And it's not a request from coaches to players. It's a necessity for them to be in the team because that's the way the game is moving forward globally,” Bradburn said in Lahore on Wednesday.

“We want to play winning cricket. We have to demand that from our players. The game is moving forward all the time. And we want to be leaders of the game."

Bradburn attested that team selection has been ‘difficult but easy’ due to him pretty much knowing what the team’s strongest XI is. The head coach added that, barring the starting XI, he’s also clear about the approach his side should adhere to, particularly in the middle-overs — with bat, with ball and on the field.

"In some ways, the selection has been difficult, but in our minds, the selection is being very easy," he said. "And what I mean by that is we are very clear around our starting XI, we are very clear around our batting approach, the way we want to approach the game. We are very clear around how we want to attack the game, particularly in the middle overs. 

“Pakistan hasn't been successful in the middle overs as well as we should be. We are working hard on developing some skills to really attack that middle-overs period with some hostility, not only with the bat but with the ball and with our field placings as well. We want to take wickets through that period."

As it stands, several Pakistan players, including skipper Babar Azam, are getting precious game-time in Sri Lankan conditions thanks to featuring in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), and Bradburn said that it’s excellent that most of his players have been able to keep themselves busy by featuring in franchise leagues.

“It’s good that some of the boys have been getting cricket in The Hundred and in the LPL,” Bradburn said. 

“It’s been excellent that they’ve been able to play cricket.”

Pakistan’s squad for the Asia Cup and Afghanistan series was pretty straightforward, but there was a curious selection in the form of Faheem Ashraf. Ashraf, a seam-bowling all-rounder, has not played an ODI in more than two years but Bradburn explained that the 29-year-old was selected for his dynamism and his ability to maraud fast bowlers with the bat in the slog overs.

The 57-year-old said that the management have taken serious note of Ashraf’s performances in the PSL. The left-hander, in PSL 2023, struck at 186.81 against the pacers overall; this S.R increased to a staggering 225.4 in overs 16-20, where he smashed 142 runs in 63 balls against the quicks.

"I believe that there is no one better at hitting pace bowling at the death than Faheem Ashraf,” Bradburn said.

“We really want to develop all around us. There is a lack of pace-bowling allrounders in the country and we have worked hard during the camps and our selections to reflect the fact that we want to promote pace-bowling allrounders. We want to really give opportunities to guys who are dynamic in both forms with the ball, with the bat and in the field.

"Whether we go with a batting allrounder or we take the best bowler, that's still to be decided and that's a decision that Mickey [Arthur], myself and Inzi [Inzamam-ul-Haq] will be involved with alongside Babar as well. But it's good to have him coming back into the one-day mode. 

“We have really taken note of the way Faheem has been able to finish games with the bat, particularly in PSL. You would have seen him going to another level in the last year or so and he is really now starting to use his skills to finish games at the back end with the bat."

Mickey Arthur works remotely due to serving both as the head coach of Derbyshire County Cricket Club and Director of the Pakistan national cricket team, but Bradburn insisted that the communication between them has been great, with their views always being aligned.

"Mickey and I are very aligned. We communicate daily and he is very much in tune with where everyone is at. He is very much part of the new direction that we are wanting to take this team,” the Pakistan head coach said.

“So we are really looking forward to him joining us on the 23rd of August. He will be with us through to the end of the India game in Kandy. And then again, Mickey will be joining us straightaway after the English domestic season and joining us at the World Cup for its entirety and right through the Australian series and New Zealand series as well. We are really looking forward to having Mickey on board, but for me, he is on board every day anyway."