Pakistan's cricket team has enlisted the help of a motivational psychologist to try to boost player unity and mental strength ahead of key matches, coach Intikhab Alam said Tuesday. Following the lead of teams like Australia, India and Sri Lanka - all of which have employed sports psychologists - Alam said he believed the new hire would help the team ahead of the World Twenty20 tournament in England in June.
"We have hired the services of Dr Maqbool Sabri, who is a specialist in motivating people for better teamwork, unity and passion," Alam told AFP. "I hope this will help the players get more focussed in the major events like the T20 World Cup." Alam said the psychologist will have one-to-one sessions with the players next week during training in Lahore, adding that he thought greater mental strength might give his cricketers the edge.
"This is one area where we lag behind other teams like Australia and South Africa," said Alam, whose team lost a five-match one-day series against Australia 3-2 in the United Arab Emirates last week. Pakistan, however, won the one-off Twenty20 match against Australia by seven wickets in Dubai last Thursday. Pakistan, who finished runners-up in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup held in South Africa in 2007, is among the top favourites for the second World Twenty20 event to be held from June 5-21.
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