Arthur hails Azhar, Younus’ resilience

Praises batting duo for lifting team after Pakistan were 6-2 at one point against Australia

Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur hailed the strength of character shown by opener Azhar Ali and veteran Younus Khan after the duo put up 120 runs to keep Pakistan in the game after the visitors were reduced to 6-2 by the fourth over in reply to Australia’s mammoth first innings total of 538.

Azhar smashed five boundaries to reach the 58-run mark, while Younus was on 64 when the second day’s play ended.

Arthur hailed the resilience shown by both batsmen and reserved special praise for Azhar for his consistent contribution to the team.

“The resilience and strength of character shown by Younus and Azhar has been fantastic. They have provided an example for the lads in the dressing room to follow,” said Arthur.

He further added, “Azhar has been fantastic in the last one year; he has been a constant for us. To see him come out and play with the intent he did again today is amazing. The amount of time he has spent on the field on this tour is almost beyond belief. The way he just keeps going and going shows a lot of resilience and a really tough mind.”

‘Yasir’s injury not serious’

Arthur further revealed that spinner Yasir Shah has injured his left hamstring after the bowler was seen to be in distress during the match, but said that he would be able to play some part in the remainder of the Test.

“Yasir has got a left hamstring strain. It’s not too bad; I think he will be able to bowl again at some stage in the game,” said Arthur before praising the Swabi-born’s determination to keep on bowling.

“Over the last six months we have played massive amounts of cricket. But he [Yasir] just keeps going and going; even though he has shown a lot of niggles he hasn’t shirked his responsibilities.”

Talking about the spinner’s struggle to adjust to Australian conditions, Arthur said: “It has been really tough for him because he is used to the sub-continental conditions and Australian pitches pose a different challenge. But he’ll learn from it and come out better.”

‘Pakistan fielding extremely frustrating’

When Arthur took over the Pakistan coaching job, he emphasised on the importance of improving the fielding, but eight months down the line, Pakistan’s fielding is as comical as it has always been, which has left Arthur extremely frustrated.

“[It is] very, very frustrating," Arthur told reporters about Pakistan's inept fielding. "We can't work any harder on our fielding. We set high standards; I make no apologies for that. We have fallen short in the fielding standards by a long way. We don't want to be labelled as a poor fielding team.”

‘Sharjeel was included to provide momentum’

When asked about why Sharjeel Khan, who got dismissed for four runs, was included ahead of Sami Aslam, Arthur said that Sharjeel was expected to provide momentum the way David Warner did for Australia and that Aslam, who left for Lahore along with Sohail Khan and Mohammad Asghar, has a bright future ahead of him.

“Sami has got a great future with us. His technique is really good and over the last four months he has improved drastically. He has developed significantly and has come on really well. We just thought we had to change [the line-up] somehow,” said Arthur.

“We had to try something different. We had to let Sharjeel lose and it was almost a 50-50 chance. If Sharjeel would have clicked, he would have given us the momentum Warner gave to Australia and hopefully set the tone for us. That was the idea behind his inclusion. Aslam, obviously, has a bright future and is certainly in our plans.”

Arthur backs Amir to bounce back

Mohammad Amir, once Pakistan’s go-to bowler, has not been at his best in recent matches and remained wicket-less in Australia’s first innings, but Arthur said that he was not worried about Amir’s form and tipped him to be among the wickets soon.

However, the head coach expressed his concern over Pakistan’s bowling in general.

“I am really happy with him [Amir]. In Melbourne he was just outstanding. He certainly was a bit off here [Sydney] and he accepts it himself,” he said. “We just haven’t, as a bowling unit, been able to create pressure; simple as that. We haven’t bowled enough in partnerships. We just haven’t been able to bowl consistently enough in the right areas to get control of the game.  But as for Amir, he is a quality bowler and I’m sure he will take a lot of wickets for us.”