- Right strategies, coaching changes, and star players vital to boost PSL as global brand
Interview with Mr. Altaf Hussain — cricket-enthusiast
PAGE: What is your standpoint about Pakistan Super League (PSL) as a brand?
Altaf Hussain: As a brand Pakistan Super League (PSL) is the best platform for the new talent hunt and also for the players currently playing. In today’s much rapid variant and challenging environment in every field of life, such platforms for today’s fast, tough, competitive and unpredictable challenging cricket world, it is the requirement of the time to improve your current talent and it also acts like a search engine for the new young talents. If we gaze the competitive cricket environment, such platform is unavoidable for improving the current talents and also hunting the new ones. Almost every cricket playing country has introduced their own brands for the improvement of their cricket.
PAGE: What is your take about franchise competitions? Give your analysis about top two teams if this season i.e. HBL PSL X:
Altaf Hussain: At the start of this new journey in our cricket history, there were 5 franchises at the beginning, later on one franchise was added. One view of adding franchises increases competition level, opens more opportunity for many other players, attracts businesses, invites investors to invest in and it also attracts the interest of the cricket lovers and viewers. On the other hand, it is very difficult for arranging and managing for new franchises but adding up new franchises will boost the run for the next level, also attracts and provide opportunity for the foreigner players too.
Talking about the two favourite teams, it not so easy to choose between the teams but the team which can make an unfavourable situation into favourable one, who can control the game and making good timely decisions making good strategy is the favourite team. Leading the point-table is not guarantee for winning the trophy, it is very unpredictable that which team wins which match and how the players take the pressure of the match. By analysing the squad of each franchise, in my view the best two teams of this season are, Islamabad United and Karachi Kings. The batting depth and the bowling power of the two teams are outclass but the main factor, which almost every team lacks is the fielding part. The team with improved fielding can take the food from the other plate easily.
PAGE: What is your perspective about the value of the brand PSL and the marketing strategy?
Altaf Hussain: I would rather like to evaluate the value of the brand PSL in two perspectives; first local then international. In the local perspective, it is the highest valuable brand in the country which is opening doors of opportunities for many new talents and also the nourishment ground for other players. In the recent years we have seen the results in the shape of many young talented players selected in the national team and many of them have performed well enough at international level.
On the other hand, we find such players who have gotten retirement in their international career but playing in PSL. So, it’s a kind of misfit and miss management, as it is a talent hunt programme so new talents must be given opportunities rather wasting it. And there needs a lot of work for players as a team captain.
The complete know how about the responsibility as a captain, making timely effective strategies and making right decisions on time, these techniques are must know to become a good team leader.
In the international perspective, the brand PSL still is far behind its right place. It needs a lot of work to do for capturing the deserving position as a brand. Though the competition is very tough but right, timely, effective and correct decisions are key to success and if there remains any weakness so must work on it to convert it on the strength and work on the strengths to make it a competitive edge for the rivals. We have seen in some franchises the same foreign coaches from the beginning till date. No doubt the coaches are very professional and highly talented but the change is necessary because different professionals bring many more new techniques and open new ways in every field of cricket. The result would be that players would learn many new skills and techniques and become more talented.
And there is one more thing we see that in PSL, the foreigner players selected are those players which are not mostly playing in their home country teams so this also needs to a lot of work to make PSL as a bright platform for foreign players to attract those players who are currently playing. In this season of PSL X, we have seen this that there are some currently playing international players which indicates a good sign for future of PSL as brand. Inviting more current playing international players increases the brand’s value and more international players will be attracted for joining the brand.
PAGE: Are franchise competition and national-level competition rather handy in terms of cherry picking the talent?
Altaf Hussain: This is a very important thing which has been highlighted in this question and I am very interested to share my views about this. The basic difference we see in our national and international cricket is the way we play slow and defective in the power plays and rest of the world plays fast attacking cricket in the power plays. The same slow and defensive strategy in power play is also observed in our franchise cricket. The same strategy is depicted in our national team in international cricket. It needs a lot of work as a coach, mentor and players levels.
As earlier I have discussed that we need new coaches and currently playing players foreigner as well as local to counter our weakness. Scoring maximum in minimum balls with standing on the pitch is the key to success in now-a-days cricket for a batter and the vice versa for a bowler. The rest main vital role is of the fielding.
The rest of the world’s fielding is amazing and surprising and making the impossible to possible and at our part we lack in fielding every time whether it is a franchise level or national team level. There is one more thing I want to highlight that few of our players play very good cricket in franchise level but when it comes to the national level the players fail to perform well. This weakness could be countered by expert level mentoring to guide a player to understand the fine line difference between the franchise and national level game. There are so many things to be discussed but putting in nutshell I hope for an overall successful cricket for our country and PSL brand more fruitful for our cricket.