Pakistan’s opening batter, Shan Masood, has explained the bonding within the national squad as he talked about their ‘breakfast club’ and its impact on the cricketing performance of the players.
In his blog for fans, Masood talked about the strong bond that the current team shares and wrote, “As a group, we have been together since the start of the home series against England and if we make the final, it will be around two months of being together.”
“The tri-series in Christchurch could not have come at a better time as we enjoyed each other’s company by going out together as a group and it helped us to switch off from cricket duties when off the field,” he added.
The batsman revealed the off-field activities of the team, which include hunting for good food in new cities. Talking about their breakfast club, he said, “Some of us managed to form the breakfast club, which set out to have breakfast at different cafes around the beautiful city of Christchurch. The boys always want to go out for the food, especially our skipper, Babar Azam, is fond of exploring new things. That is how he switches off. My responsibility was to identify spots with good food. The most memorable breakfast we had was on our first day in Christchurch. It was too cold because of a surprise snowfall a night before, but we still went out for the breakfast, shivering on our way to the cafe, and enjoyed a lot.”
He further wrote, “Things like these are important as it builds camaraderie amongst the group. Our conversations ranged from cricket to different parts of each other’s lives. We also regularly went out for evening meals, odd shopping sprees – we came unprepared in terms of the cold, and every member of the travelling contingent had to buy some warm clothes.”
“Spending time together is an important aspect of the game. It adds to the team chemistry on the field and infuses a healthy team culture that makes one to go an extra yard for his teammate. Everyone is dealing with things professionally and personally and having the support of each other is extremely important,” wrote Masood, about the brotherly bond of the team.
The current squad of Pakistan team has set a culture of friendship and brotherhood which seems to work as a support system for the team on the field as well. The vice-captain Shadab Khan also talked about the benefits of this bond earlier.