Shashank Kishore
Mickey Arthur: ‘We’ve had some unfinished business since 2019’
Coach says Shadab Khan is ‘one more performance away’ until he finds his best
The fascination of seeing the boys he first coached in 2016 achieve such impressive growth today is what excited Mickey Arthur when he was approached to rejoin the Pakistan team as Director of Cricket in April this year.
And one of the things he set about reforming after he took over was their style of play. This reinvention of batting is a version of the ‘buzz ball’ that England have employed over the past few years to great success in Test cricket.
Arthur says one of his challenges is getting all the players to buy into an idea, then trying to run it backwards and remaining steadfast in their commitment to sticking with that idea in a high-stakes environment. I admit that. And the results are gradually improving. Since the 2019 World Cup, Pakistan has had the best win-loss ratio of all teams.
“One of the attractions of coming back was that all the young boys I worked with are now men,” Arthur said ahead of Pakistan’s World Cup opener against the Netherlands. “The brand of cricket, that’s what we’re trying to convey to the players. They’ve bought into it. It takes a little bit of time, but I always say this, skin the cat. There are always two ways to strip.”
“I think our bowling attack is one of the best attacks and if there are runs on the board, our bowlers can generally defend them. “No doubt they are good enough to do it, but we are playing with a brand that we call the ‘Pakistani way’. “We’re playing a very, very Pakistan-specific brand and it suits our team, our team dynamics. “That’s the brand we play and we want to hopefully win the World Cup. I am thinking. ”
Arthur has been emphatic, perhaps even enthusiastic, about his team aiming for World Cup glory, even if their pre-tournament reputation as favorites isn’t up to snuff. This is partly because they have to fill a huge bowling hole due to Naseem Shah’s injury, and partly because the spin duo of Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz hasn’t particularly lit up the scene.
Shadab’s lack of control and tendency to leak boundaries has been an issue, even though the team is not yet fully stressed. Nawaz is seen as a bowler with more of a holding role than an attacking option, unlike some other teams who have true match-winners in the spin department.
Of the six wickets Shadab took in the Asia Cup, four came against Nepal. Since that game, his returns with the ball have been underwhelming. However, Arthur and other coaches tended to give him longer ropes due to the X-factor performance he could deliver with the bat. Shadab’s role in turning around a sluggish innings was somewhat overshadowed by Naseem’s batting heroics at the end, as in the one-wicket win over Afghanistan.
“I wholeheartedly support Shadab,” Arthur said. “He’s a great cricketer. If you look at his bowling, batting and fielding package, it’s extraordinary. If you look at his bowling in isolation, he just lacks confidence a little bit. He hasn’t lost his ability to turn the ball, his Google is still very good and he’s just one performance away from getting his confidence back and being able to really make a big impact in this World Cup. So I hope that happens tomorrow.” [against Netherlands], but I’m not worried about Shadab because I know he’s a quality player. ”
Arthur also dismissed concerns about the pressure the team may be feeling from playing in India. He said the team’s unity will help overcome any problems that could potentially be faced.
“The boys love being in India. They have accepted being here, which has been great. The pressure of the World Cup is always a lot, but our boys are really good. I think we’re in a place, and that’s part of the appeal for me.”It’s very similar to the team we had in 2019, and it’s almost an unfinished business that I felt in 2019.
“You know, they’re a very close group because they’ve been playing together for a long time. They know each other very well. Not only are they teammates, but they’re friends in general. It’s been a long time. “It’s a way to build team spirit. The team has been close for a long time, so it helps the team come together. They went out to Hyderabad. They really enjoy going out to dinner. ” But they just enjoy each other’s company and that makes my heart so happy. ”
Shashank Kishore is Senior Deputy Editor at ESPNcricinfo