Sports

Arthur identifies two reasons for Pakistan’s poor performance in Australia

Head coach believes Men in Green are ‘way behind’ others in international cricket

Sports Desk January 27, 2017

Arthur believes Pakistan are ‘way behind’ others in international cricket. PHOTO: AFP

Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur on Thursday identified two key reasons for his team’s poor tour of Australia.

The visitors lost the Test series 3-0 Down Under followed by a 4-1 defeat in the ODI series. And Arthur pointed out two reasons for his side’s capitulation. The first was the embarrassing display in the fielding department, while the second was David Warner’s opening.

Talking about the fielding, the South African said that despite their hard work, fielding mishaps were quite common which shows Pakistan are “way behind the pack”.

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“Believe it or not, we’ve worked extremely hard at our fielding,” said Arthur “Me and my support staff have been around for about seven months, and that’s been a focus and priority. But we’re way behind the rest of the pack. So, fitness and fielding again is going to be total priority before we go to the West Indies.”

Regarding the heroics of Warner, Pakistan head coach said Pakistan’s inability to deal with the left-handed opener really cost them the series.

In the seven Test innings, the Australian vice-captain scored 356 runs with quick-fire centuries in Melbourne and Sydney. And in ODI series, he blasted 367 runs from five innings, concluding with back-to-back hundreds in Sydney and Adelaide.

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“We saw the difference here, Warner gets in and gets 130 the other day [in Sydney] and 170-odd [in Adelaide],” said Arthur. “And he gets it very, very quick. That’s the difference between chasing 310 and chasing 370-odd. And at 370-odd, we’ve got to play out of our skin to get anywhere close.”

He added: “So, Warner and our fielding has probably been the key difference between the teams.”

Arthur was quoted by cricket.com.au

COMMENTS (1)

Shah | 7 years ago | Reply At least 2 ODIs which Pak lost were actually won by Pak if they would not have dropped catches; 6 in one match and a couple or more in the last one, not to mention the fielding not trying to stop the ball but to let it go and then either roll dive to show what great effort, or start running after the ball; PCB "MUST" change criteria of selection; !st is the 'pre-qualification' of a player; which means player must pre-qualify after passing strict fielding and stamina test'; Once he pssses this test with a minimum passing points of 90%, then to be established after 'testing' that he is a 'batsman' and for which position will play; or the test for a 'bowler' and whether he has positioned for spinner or fast bowler;... the last test would have to be for 'wicket keeper' and his collection, stumping and catching abilities behind the stumps; In all cases minimum passing points computer decided, to be not less than 90%; If less then drop the player and look for a better one in the market; there are plenty of very capable expert poor boys out there who dont have clout of PM or CM or any Minister; Critical is the selection of a 'player' after he passes computerized monitored "Fielding" test; that should be basis of setting up tests for 'Batsman or Bowler or Wktkeeper"; Till then no use paying these useless pieces of human waste as pak team; Also, it is important to that if players are afraid to touch the fast moving ball in the air or ground that they get hurt or it pains, then they should look for something else to play, maybe ping pong; .. but for sure not cricket;

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