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Will consider PSL performances to finalise World Cup squad: Arthur

By Agencies
February 09, 2019

LAHORE: Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has said that squad for the ICC World Cup 2019 will be finalised after considering the performances of players in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and ODI series against Australia.

Addressing a press conference on Friday after returning from South Africa, Arthur said that he and chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq had 19 players in mind and would want to have two game plans in place for the conditions in England during the summer.

“Inzi and I have been on the same page for a long while here. And I’m going to be honest because I’ve told the boys in the dressing room the same thing the other night,” Arthur said.

“I think we’ve got probably 19 players for 15 positions. PSL always throws up one or two good individual performers, so we are going to have a look at some of our borderline players, the guys that we are not sure about. We have to look at them during the Australian series and then we will make our minds up leading into England, obviously we will be taking 15 there. The key is players get clarity in terms of their roles and role clarity is particularly important.”

Pakistan play 10 One-day Internationals before the World Cup — five against Australia in the UAE after the PSL and five in England in May.

They have given opportunities to youngsters with the advent of the PSL in the last couple of years. With the T20 league starting in under a week, players will want to impress the selectors particularly for slots in the middle order and the fast-bowling attack.

The current probables for the pace attack comprise Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Usman Shinwari and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf. Among the spinners, Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim are the likely candidates to make the trip to England.

“The other thing that’s important for us is having an option with two game plans,” Arthur said.

“I’m saying two game plans because the weather in England at any given time is very unpredictable, so we need an option where we have our spinners, who are able to suffocate through the middle [overs] because the key for us to win one-day games is about taking wickets through that middle period.

“Either we do that with two spinners or little bit of reverse-swing if the weather stays dry, or if the weather is wet over that period of time there we have to have an option of a seam-bowling all-rounder who can come in and bat at No. 7 for us. So we’re very close, we’ve covered all our bases in terms of our personnel at the moment,” he said.

Pakistan fought hard against South Africa in the ODIs, losing the series 3-2, but their form since they won the Champions Trophy in June 2017 hasn’t been impressive.

Looking back at the South Africa tour, where Pakistan lost the Test series 3-0, ODIs 3-2 and T20Is 2-1, Arthur said he was proud of the way the team showed their “passion” and “intensity”.

“I just think it is really important that I reiterate how proud I am of the cricket team,” he said.“We were two months away on the road. Four-and-a-half months away is a hell of a long time and the intensity and the passion that these guys trained with has been fantastic,” he added.

“We’ve played the most cricket over the last four-and-a-half months than any other team in the world. That’s not an excuse, I’m not using it as an excuse because that’s the way it is. We’ve got to handle that.”

“Our planning is done. We’ve got our schedules, we’ve got everything in place leading upto the World Cup. Myself, Inzamam and Sarfraz have been completely united in the process that we are going forward.”

Even though Sarfraz’s own form has been under scrutiny, he recently got the backing of the PCB to lead the team in the World Cup. He has averaged only 26.62 in 12 ODI innings over the last year, scoring only one half-century. But Arthur backed the captain.

“It’s very simple, we need to be very fluid without game plans,” Arthur said. “Sarfraz has done exceptional work for us up and down the order. I think the thing that we’ve got to realise is over a long tour, form comes and goes and players start playing well and then they slip off the radar a little bit,” he said.

“Understand that Sarfraz’s first and foremost thing is captain and wicketkeeper, people forget wicket-keeping is a specialist position. Sarfraz’s numbers over the last four-and-a-half months are mind-blowing.”“He and I work incredibly close together, we’ve got very close working relationship, as good as I had with any captain. I just need to put that to bed,” said Arthur.