As Pakistan gears up for their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 opener against the Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad, Team Director Mickey Arthur sounded confident of the preparations despite smarting losses in the warm-up games.
“We’re playing a brand that we call the Pakistan way. We’re playing a brand that is very, very particular to Pakistan and suits our team dynamic. And that’s a brand that we’re going to hopefully win the World Cup with,” said Arthur during the pre-match presser.
It was not long ago that Pakistan was ranked No.1 in the world, but a flailing Asia Cup 2023 campaign coupled with an untimely injury to Naseem Shah and a dip in the form of at least a couple of players have made Pakistan look brittle; add to that the team’s over-dependency on the top order. However, Arthur shrugged off the notion.
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“No, we’re not. We’ve got some very, very fine players. Yes, [Mohammad] Rizwan and Babar are exceptional players. But let’s not forget that we’ve got Imam-ul-Haq, I think, he is in the top five players at the moment. Fakhar [Zaman], we know his quality, we know that. I think you guys will love watching Saud [Shakeel]. I think he’s quality.
So yeah, they’re very, very good players, but we’re certainly not reliant on them. It would be nice if they kept on scoring the way they’re scoring at the minute. It takes a bit of pressure off everybody else, but we have some very, very fine players outside of those two as well,” said Arthur.
One of the biggest worries for Pakistan however is the form of their vice-captain Shadab Khan, who has averaged close to 40 with the ball and heading into the World Cup in the sub-continent, not having your premier spinner firing at all cylinders could be decisive. But, the team management has shown confidence in the young player.
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“I wholeheartedly bet on Shadab’s ability. He’s a wonderful cricket. You look at his package of bowling, batting, and fielding, is exceptional. If we look at his bowling in isolation, he’s just short of a little confidence,” he said, adding, “He hasn’t lost his ability to turn the ball. His googly is still very, very good. He’s one performance away from getting that confidence back and making sure that he has a really big influence on this World Cup. I’d like that to come tomorrow, but I’m not worried about him, because I know he’s a quality, quality cricketer.
For most of the players, this would be their first time playing in India, and that too a World Cup game the key factor throughout their campaign will handle the pressure, something Arthur feels this team is capable of doing.
“First of all, the boys have loved being in India. They’ve embraced being here, which has been fantastic. The pressure of a World Cup is always massive. But I think our boys are in a really good place. Part of the attraction for me is, it’s a very similar squad to what we had in 2019, and it’s almost unfinished business. I felt in 2019, we were very, very close there with young boys.
These young boys have now become men. They’ve become very experienced. They’ve had another four years of experience. During those four years, we had the best win-loss ratio in ODIs. These guys are ready for everything that’s thrown at them in this competition,” said the veteran coach.
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While Pakistan’s bowling was put the sword in both the warm-up games they played, Arthur is confident on a similar wicket the bowlers will be able to step up.
“It looks an incredibly good wicket. The facilities here in Hyderabad have been outstanding, and the curators have done a great job. The wickets we had for the warm-up games were brilliant. And this pitch looks no different. It looks a very, very good one,” he added.
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