Arthur has gelled well with team, reveals Alam

Team manager also confident of team’s preparation for England tour

KARACHI: Pakistan team manager Intikhab Alam is confident that the preparations going on in England will help the team do well come the start of the four-match Test series from July 14 at Lord’s.

Intikhab, who is a former captain, stated that it was a good idea to arrive in England 10 days before the first Test started as it allowed players to get to know the pitches and environment, while getting acclimatised to the weather in England.

“Coming early to England has allowed us to get used to conditions as we encountered unexpected cold weather in the summer,” said Alam. “We’ve done intense training sessions, while bowlers and batsmen got some good match practice in a three-day match we played.”

He further added, “I hope that the weather permits us to get to play full match in our two side matches as we want to enter the first Test in perfect shape.”

Despite English conditions posing a different challenge than UAE for Pakistan’s Test side, Alam was buoyant when he stated that Pakistan have a psychological edge over England having won the home series in UAE late last year. He also revealed that head coach Mickey Arthur has gelled quickly with the players and that they have a great atmosphere in the dressing room.

“Arthur has gelled well and the players are responding to him really well which is a good sign. Extensive work is being done in all aspects, may it be batting, bowling or fielding. The message is very clear that this tour is important for us,” he added.

“Our team is well balanced because our batting has been performing really well and I’m hopeful that they will click on the tour, while our pace attack is dangerous so England will think about preparing the pitches that will help their bowlers. In addition to our fast-bowling strength, we have Yasir Shah with us as well who can be extremely lethal in the second innings.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2016.

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