I messed up our bowling selection, admits Arthur
Pakistan head coach says young spinners should have been given a chance in UAE
TACTICAL ERROR: Micket Arthur believes he should have opted for young spinners to help Yasir Shah in the UAE against Sri lanka — an error of judgment he accepted. PHOTO: AFP
Misbahul Haq and Younus Khan left a big gulf to fill when they retired after the series against West Indies, but Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur didn’t try to find an escape citing the veterans' absence as the reason for the loss in the first Test against Sri Lanka.
Pakistan had to chase 136 runs on a day five pitch and they failed miserably in doing that, and Arthur say batsmen’s disappointing performance brought the bowling attack in the firing line too, which he believes delivered even after he made a tactical mistake of not selecting young spinners to assist leggie Yasir Shah.
“We just thought it was our best possible attack, whether that was right or wrong, it's something I need to get my head around,” said Arthur as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “I've come from and coached in places where pace dominates and wins games. I've got to get my thinking round these totally different conditions.”
The South African said the bowling attack did well, but the batsmen disappointed while chasing a paltry total. “Whether we like it or not though our attack has done a job,” he said. “We should've chased down 136 in Abu Dhabi. Without a doubt. And then we would've said the attack has done its job.”
The 49-year-old said young spinners like Bilal Asif and Mohammad Asghar should’ve been given a chance in the UAE to prove themselves, but he messed up the selection.
“The other thing is, no disrespect to the spinners we've got because they're young, but if it's Yasir and Saeed Ajmal, it's a no-brainer. But we don't have Saeed Ajmal as the second spinner. We're working with a set of young spinners. Bilal and Asghar have worked the house down. Asghar will be good. When we give him that opportunity is something we need to look at. And perhaps the opportunity was here. Maybe tactically I messed up on that,” he explained.
‘Didn’t get the pitches we wanted’
Pakistan hosted Sri Lanka for the two-match Test series in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on pitches which are supposed to be spin-friendly as soon as cracks start appearing, but Arthur revealed that they demanded greener pitches to negate Sri Lanka’s spin attack and give their pacers a chance — a wish which was not granted.
“Strategically when we set about looking at how we'd go about this, we asked for wickets that did a little bit more than they have done,” said Arthur. “We asked for a little bit more grass because that would nullify Sri Lanka's spinners and give our quick bowlers an opportunity. Whether that can happen in the UAE, I'm not sure. Maybe that was a pipe dream as far as I was concerned. But that was our strategy going into the series.”
‘Need to nail the right batting combination’
The age-old question of who will fill the gaps left by Misbah and Younus also surfaced and Arthur said life after the duo is and will not be easy.
“It [the batting combination post Misbah and Younus] has kept me awake at night to be honest,” said Arthur. “It's tough. I thought we had it nailed, I've got to be honest. I was comfortable that we had the right combinations. I was comfortable we had enough left-hand, right-hand combinations. I thought we had the next best batsmen available in Pakistan playing for us. I'll be honest I'm not 100% sure now.”
He added that the time between the current and next series will help them regroup and plan their best middle-order batsmen and their position in the final eleven.
“And before we tour again, we've got a long break now before we go to England, we're going to have to sit down and really apply our minds and have a look again as to what we think is our best top six going forward,” he said.
Pakistan had to chase 136 runs on a day five pitch and they failed miserably in doing that, and Arthur say batsmen’s disappointing performance brought the bowling attack in the firing line too, which he believes delivered even after he made a tactical mistake of not selecting young spinners to assist leggie Yasir Shah.
“We just thought it was our best possible attack, whether that was right or wrong, it's something I need to get my head around,” said Arthur as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “I've come from and coached in places where pace dominates and wins games. I've got to get my thinking round these totally different conditions.”
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The South African said the bowling attack did well, but the batsmen disappointed while chasing a paltry total. “Whether we like it or not though our attack has done a job,” he said. “We should've chased down 136 in Abu Dhabi. Without a doubt. And then we would've said the attack has done its job.”
The 49-year-old said young spinners like Bilal Asif and Mohammad Asghar should’ve been given a chance in the UAE to prove themselves, but he messed up the selection.
“The other thing is, no disrespect to the spinners we've got because they're young, but if it's Yasir and Saeed Ajmal, it's a no-brainer. But we don't have Saeed Ajmal as the second spinner. We're working with a set of young spinners. Bilal and Asghar have worked the house down. Asghar will be good. When we give him that opportunity is something we need to look at. And perhaps the opportunity was here. Maybe tactically I messed up on that,” he explained.
‘Didn’t get the pitches we wanted’
Pakistan hosted Sri Lanka for the two-match Test series in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on pitches which are supposed to be spin-friendly as soon as cracks start appearing, but Arthur revealed that they demanded greener pitches to negate Sri Lanka’s spin attack and give their pacers a chance — a wish which was not granted.
“Strategically when we set about looking at how we'd go about this, we asked for wickets that did a little bit more than they have done,” said Arthur. “We asked for a little bit more grass because that would nullify Sri Lanka's spinners and give our quick bowlers an opportunity. Whether that can happen in the UAE, I'm not sure. Maybe that was a pipe dream as far as I was concerned. But that was our strategy going into the series.”
‘Need to nail the right batting combination’
The age-old question of who will fill the gaps left by Misbah and Younus also surfaced and Arthur said life after the duo is and will not be easy.
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“It [the batting combination post Misbah and Younus] has kept me awake at night to be honest,” said Arthur. “It's tough. I thought we had it nailed, I've got to be honest. I was comfortable that we had the right combinations. I was comfortable we had enough left-hand, right-hand combinations. I thought we had the next best batsmen available in Pakistan playing for us. I'll be honest I'm not 100% sure now.”
He added that the time between the current and next series will help them regroup and plan their best middle-order batsmen and their position in the final eleven.
“And before we tour again, we've got a long break now before we go to England, we're going to have to sit down and really apply our minds and have a look again as to what we think is our best top six going forward,” he said.