‘We are number nine in the world and we can see why’

By our correspondents
September 03, 2016

LEEDS, England: Mickey Arthur might have been tempted to think that he was at the right place at the right time when Pakistan came back from 1-2 down to level the four-Test series and become number one in the world last month.

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But after watching his charges getting a battering at the hands of a formidable England side in the ongoing One-day International series, Pakistan’s head coach must have known that he has a very challenging task at hand.

Pakistan are languishing at number nine in the ODI rankings and after going 0-4 down in the current series, it seems that they would miss out of a direct berth for World Cup 2019 in England.

“It is what it is,” Arthur after Pakistan crashed to their fourth consecutive defeat here at Headingley on Thursday night.

“I hate the phrase, but we are number nine in the world and we can see why,” added the South African, who joined the Pakistan team just ten days before the ongoing tour of England.

Arthur conceded that Pakistan face an uphill task as they look to finish among the top eight by September next year to avoid the ignominy of playing the qualifying rounds for World Cup 2019.

“When I saw the fixture list, the games aren’t easy,” he said.

“We’ve got two series against West Indies that we have to play well in — West Indies are a decent one-day outfit. Between them we are sandwiched with an ODI series in Australia which is incredibly tough.”

Arthur said that he will do his homework before deciding about the future course of the ODI squad.

“I’m finding my way with the one-day team. I want to give guys opportunities and then we’ll know by the end of the tour who we can and can’t take forward.”

Arthur is even more concerned after seeing the likes of Mohammad Irfan breaking down after bowling just five overs on Thursday.

Irfan, who has replaced the injured Mohammad Hafeez in the squad, delivered Pakistan’s fieriest spell of the one-day series to remove Jason Roy and Alex Hales, setting back England’s chase of 248, and nearly claimed Eoin Morgan as well during a hostile over in the ninth.

He returned to bowl the 42nd over but managed to deliver a huge wide before limping back with a calf problem.

Leading into his comeback match, Irfan had bowled just four competitive overs — in a domestic T20 for Islamabad against Lahore on August 26 — although Arthur did reference two “50-over games” as part of his period with the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

“It’s very frustrating,” the coach said. “There were checks and balances in place. He was put on standby when we selected our one-day squad, he went to the NCA and did his training. He played two 50-over games and 20-over game and was resident at the NCA for a period of a week and a half.”

Arthur said that he was constantly in touch with chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq regarding the rebuilding process that will certainly begin soon after the team returns home from England.

“Irfan was a player of interest and I wanted to have a look at him go. Inzi and myself have developed a really good relationship. We speak a hell of a lot. I spent probably 40 minutes on the phone to him yesterday just discussing where we were and possible names who could come in in positions I’ve identified. What I am finding out is who can do a job and who can’t,” he said.

While Arthur was critical of his own team’s shortcoming, he was generous in paying tribute to England over their remarkable turnaround after a dismal World Cup campaign last year.

“England are a phenomenal cricket team, power hitters all the way down, we haven’t been able to get quick starts and clear the ropes,” he said. “We just don’t have the players to do that within our group of 15 at the moment. Those are things we need to address and bear in mind for the next series. It also gives me an opportunity to decide who we take forward and how we play our cricket. With every game that becomes clearer and clearer.”

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