AFP, Lahore :
Newly appointed Pakistan cricket coach Moin Khan on Tuesday urged his players to shrug off “the fear of failure” as they prepare to defend the Asia Cup which starts later this month. Pakistan began a four-day training camp ahead of the competition which starts in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on February 25.
Khan, who replaced Australian Dav Whatmore under whom Pakistan won the Asia Cup in 2012, said the team was gearing up for the title defence. “I hope we will give a good result and defend our title which we won with the same captain, Misbah-ul Haq,” he told reporters after the first day of the camp.
Pakistan face Sri Lanka on the opening day of the tournament, which also includes India and Afghanistan. “I think it’s important to take out the fear of failure, which I saw previously in the team,” said Khan.
He was manager of the team on the last tour to the United Arab Emirates, where Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in the one-day series 3-2 and squared the three-match Test series 1-1. “It (being manager) was a different role but I have benefited from it as I have seen the technical problems of the players, got to know their psyche as well,” said Khan.
He has been appointed as coach for the Asia Cup and the World Twenty20, also in Bangladesh in March-April. “I am confident that if my performance is good I will get an extension,” said Khan, under whose captaincy Pakistan won their first Asia Cup title in 2000.
India have won the title five times while Sri Lanka won it on four occasions out of eleven events.
Khan, who played 69 Tests and 219 one-dayers for Pakistan, praised Whatmore. “Whatmore did very well, although we lost some Test series, but we produced good results in one-day matches and T20 internationals,” he said.
The team will fly to Dhaka on February 22.
