Having lost against India and New Zealand, Pakistan were down but not entirely out of the ICC World Twenty20 championship in India. But already there was this talk of Pakistan looking for a foreign coach to replace an under-fire Waqar Younis. Unhappy with the former Test pacer, many of the players were eagerly looking forward to such a development although the names of coaches like Tom Moody, who was believed to be on the top of Pakistan’s wish-list, were making some of them uncomfortable.

One of the Pakistan team players asked me in Chandigarh a day before the team’s must-win match against Australia whether there was any truth in reports that Moody could be Pakistan’s next coach. "It’s good that we are thinking about a foreign coach but I don’t think that the team needs a coach like him (Moody), I’ve heard he is too arrogant," is what the player told me.

"Our team needs a coach like Gary Kirsten. He is the sort of coach who can bring the best out of the players without being a hard taskmaster. Look what he did for India. He could do the same for us."

Pakistan couldn’t get hold of Kirsten but they did manage to rope in one of Kirsten’s compatriots - Mickey Arthur - the man who once coached South Africa and later Australia. I am not sure whether the player with whom I had a detailed chat in Chandigarh on who Pakistan’s coach should be, will place Arthur in Moody’s category or compare him with the likes of Kirsten.

His past track record will suggest that Arthur might not be the sort of coach many of our players wanted Pakistan to have, a soft, father-like figure whom they could exploit to their advantage.

In his debut as a high-profile international coach, Arthur had a breakdown in his relationship with South Africa captain Graeme Smith. Things were so bad that he had to resign as coach. In his second stint, this time with Australia, Arthur was sacked by Cricket Australia after it became apparent that their team had all but revolted against the coach. The axe came after the infamous Homeworkgate episode on the tour of India in 2012-13 where it had become quite apparent that Arthur’s relationship with many of the Australian players was becoming increasingly uneasy. One of the senior Aussie players, Brad Haddin, later alleged that Arthur was "very, very insecure" as coach and had contributed to the negative atmosphere around the team. On his part, Arthur defended himself and even decided to sue Cricket Australia over the "totally unfair basis" for his sacking.

It took almost three years for Arthur to land a decent coaching job after getting axed by Australia. And I’m sure that Pakistan wouldn’t have been his first choice just like Arthur wasn’t on top of PCB’s list when it started its hunt to find a foreign coach a few weeks back. The Board wanted to appoint former England coach Peter Moores and after he turned down the offer it tried to lure Australian Stuart Law. He, too, declined the job offer.

Many fear that Arthur won’t succeed as Pakistan’s coach. They predict that he would be unable to tackle the many problems that are part and parcel of the Pakistani dressing room, things like disharmony and at times downright rifts.

However, I would like to believe that the fact that Arthur has a point to prove makes him a good choice. His unceremonious exit as Australia’s coach in the summer of 2013 did a lot of damage to his reputation as an international coach. For him, an assignment with Pakistan, regarded in international cricket as one of the toughest jobs, is a heaven-sent opportunity to show the world that he is the same Arthur who helped South Africa rise to number one in the rankings.

A lot will depend on whether Arthur manages to win the trust and respect of his new charges. Dealing with Pakistani players can be a tricky business for foreign coaches. Ask the likes of Dav Whatmore and they will tell you exactly that. Some coaches find it easy to just deal with a few senior players and end up getting used as pawns.

From the looks of it, Arthur doesn’t come across as that type of a coach. And in any case there aren’t many players left in the Pakistan team, who can hold the upper hand over a foreign coach of Arthur’s calibre.

I can foresee Arthur developing a good, positive relationship with the unflappable Misbah-ul-Haq. Pakistan’s Test future is, for the moment, in safe hands. But Misbah doesn’t have many years left as a Test cricketer and one of Arthur’s targets should be to help Pakistan groom his successor. There are two obvious choices at the moment: Azhar Ali and Sarfraz Ahmed. Let’s see what the new coach has to say about either of them.

While they appear to be headed in the right direction in Tests, the two shorter formats are a different story. The various chinks in Pakistan’s Twenty20 armour were laid bare in the World Twenty20 championship. In One-day Internationals, they recently dropped to an embarrassingly low ninth position. It is in these formats that Arthur has to really make his presence felt sooner rather than later.

His first task will be to prepare the team for the highly challenging tour of England later this summer. Pakistan will play four Tests, five One-day Internationals and a one-off Twenty20 game during the marathon sojourn that will begin early in June and will continue till September. This will be Pakistan’s first full tour of England since the spot-fixing scandal back in 2010 when three of their players were caught red-handed. It is going to be a particularly tough series and Pakistan will expect their new coach to show them ways and means to counter England’s firepower.

After spending three years as a big fish in a small pond, doing a few stints in relatively smaller T20 leagues, Arthur is back in top-tier cricket. Both him and his new team have been through troubled times. Maybe they will rise again, together.