<p>Continuing his attack on the country's cricket set-up, Pakistan's former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has described most of the members in the national team as "mentally disturbed".<br /><br /></p>.<p>"Most of the players do not perform on the field, why? Because they're mentally disturbed. They have a lot fears; take those fears away, that is the coach's job, it is not to teach the game," Akhtar said.<br /><br />He said that Pakistan cricket is currently going through its "darkest era".<br /><br />In a scathing attack, in the aftermath of the side's disappointing performance at the Champions Trophy, Akhtar blamed poor coaching for the side's batting woes.<br />He said the Pakistan team needs a new coach, who can "unite the players in the dressing room".<br /><br />"I think this is the darkest era of our cricket and I think if we need to take positives from the Champions Trophy we should learn from South Africa who survived isolation in the apartheid era and have emerged as a top team in the world," he said.<br /><br />"Pakistan needs to learn from them because we are also in a similar position as there is no international team coming to Pakistan since 2009. But we are still in a better position than them in the sense that we are still playing our matches at neutral venues," he was quoted as saying by 'Express Tribune'.<br /><br />He said that the fact that Pakistan have been bowled out without playing the full 50 overs in seven of their last 12 ODIs is a discouraging sign.<br /><br />Akhtar however defended captain Misbah-ul-Haq who has come under fire for his slow batting and captaincy.<br /><br />He said Misbah can't be blamed because no one is doing consistently well in the team's batting line-up.<br /><br />"He has no choice but to adopt a conservative and safety-first approach due to the poor performance of his colleagues." <br /><br />The former speedster said Pakistan's batting woes were a result of poor coaching at the grass-root levels.<br /><br />"Pakistan has always been able to produce some of the world's greatest players. The greatest, however, have not coached the under-19 and the under-16 teams where they can be matured as a batsman.<br /><br />"By those ages you should have maturity as a batsman. The best age is 15, if you tell them how to play the game and rotate the strike, that's where real coaching comes into play. I would say that there is a huge gap in that area."<br /><br />Akhtar also suggested Tom Moody's name as a possible solution to Pakistan's ongoing <br />problems.<br /><br />"Pakistan should go for Tom Moody, he is the only man who can bring the match-winning attitude into the team. He is fantastic, rugged, brilliant manager, brilliant motivator and accommodator and he knows how to handle guys." <br /><br />Akhtar also lashed out at national team's wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal.<br /><br />"Kamran should be dropped for the match (against India) and the management must play an extra batsman who can also keep. I think Asad Shafiq should be given a chance," he told 'Geo News'.<br /><br />"Everyone knows the sort of keeping that Kamran Akmal does. I think I can also keep like this," he said.<br /><br />"The unfortunate part is that for the last 10 years Pakistan has been looking for a good keeper who can also bat well," he said.</p>
<p>Continuing his attack on the country's cricket set-up, Pakistan's former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has described most of the members in the national team as "mentally disturbed".<br /><br /></p>.<p>"Most of the players do not perform on the field, why? Because they're mentally disturbed. They have a lot fears; take those fears away, that is the coach's job, it is not to teach the game," Akhtar said.<br /><br />He said that Pakistan cricket is currently going through its "darkest era".<br /><br />In a scathing attack, in the aftermath of the side's disappointing performance at the Champions Trophy, Akhtar blamed poor coaching for the side's batting woes.<br />He said the Pakistan team needs a new coach, who can "unite the players in the dressing room".<br /><br />"I think this is the darkest era of our cricket and I think if we need to take positives from the Champions Trophy we should learn from South Africa who survived isolation in the apartheid era and have emerged as a top team in the world," he said.<br /><br />"Pakistan needs to learn from them because we are also in a similar position as there is no international team coming to Pakistan since 2009. But we are still in a better position than them in the sense that we are still playing our matches at neutral venues," he was quoted as saying by 'Express Tribune'.<br /><br />He said that the fact that Pakistan have been bowled out without playing the full 50 overs in seven of their last 12 ODIs is a discouraging sign.<br /><br />Akhtar however defended captain Misbah-ul-Haq who has come under fire for his slow batting and captaincy.<br /><br />He said Misbah can't be blamed because no one is doing consistently well in the team's batting line-up.<br /><br />"He has no choice but to adopt a conservative and safety-first approach due to the poor performance of his colleagues." <br /><br />The former speedster said Pakistan's batting woes were a result of poor coaching at the grass-root levels.<br /><br />"Pakistan has always been able to produce some of the world's greatest players. The greatest, however, have not coached the under-19 and the under-16 teams where they can be matured as a batsman.<br /><br />"By those ages you should have maturity as a batsman. The best age is 15, if you tell them how to play the game and rotate the strike, that's where real coaching comes into play. I would say that there is a huge gap in that area."<br /><br />Akhtar also suggested Tom Moody's name as a possible solution to Pakistan's ongoing <br />problems.<br /><br />"Pakistan should go for Tom Moody, he is the only man who can bring the match-winning attitude into the team. He is fantastic, rugged, brilliant manager, brilliant motivator and accommodator and he knows how to handle guys." <br /><br />Akhtar also lashed out at national team's wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal.<br /><br />"Kamran should be dropped for the match (against India) and the management must play an extra batsman who can also keep. I think Asad Shafiq should be given a chance," he told 'Geo News'.<br /><br />"Everyone knows the sort of keeping that Kamran Akmal does. I think I can also keep like this," he said.<br /><br />"The unfortunate part is that for the last 10 years Pakistan has been looking for a good keeper who can also bat well," he said.</p>