ISLAMABAD: Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur says it’s time to move on from captain Sarfraz Ahmed’s four-match ban for a racial taunt and concentrate on finalizing the team for the Cricket World Cup.
Sarfraz was reaffirmed on Tuesday as captain to the end of the World Cup in July, despite the Pakistan Cricket Board saying its policy was to name the captain on a series-to-series basis.
Pakistan media have questioned the Sarfraz decision, including whether it was a political riposte at the ICC for banning Sarfraz. Private broadcaster Geo News wondered whether the PCB did a U-turn or succumbed to pressure from unnamed quarters.
On the national team’s return on Friday from the tour of South Africa, Arthur said PCB chairman Ehsan Mani talked with him and chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq before reappointing Sarfraz as captain.
“We’ve made that decision because we are very comfortable with Sarfraz leading this team forward,” Arthur said in Lahore. “There’s clarity, there’s no more speculation.”
Sarfraz was banned for racially taunting South Africa all rounder Andile Phehlukwayo in an ODI last month in Durban. He returned home and missed the last two one-day internationals and the entire three-match Twenty20 series.
“What he did was wrong and it was worked through,” Arthur said. “Saffy took it on the chin, he apologized, he moved forward, everything was handled properly.”
Arthur believed Sarfraz’s main job is wicketkeeping, and he was not worried about his captain’s dip in batting form.
“He (Sarfraz) has dropped eight balls in four and a half months, so he is not out of form in his core job,” Arthur said. “I’m not, and I want to reiterate, not worried about Sarfraz Ahmed’s (batting) form.”
Pakistan lost the test, ODI, and T20 series in South Africa.
While Arthur acknowledged Pakistan needed to improve a lot in test matches, he was disappointed to lose the ODIs 3-2 and the T20s 2-1.
“We thought we were as good as South Africa in those conditions,” he said.
Arthur criticized the test pitches as none of the games went to the fifth day. But Arthur said Pakistan was not the only team which has struggled in South Africa.
“I don’t think there’s any coincidence that no Asian team has won a test series in South Africa,” he said. “So we know we’ve got a lot of work to do with our test side.”
He picked out Babar Azam for praise, for becoming the batting mainstay in white-ball cricket.
“South Africa is the toughest place to bat ... to see Babar Azam’s development across all formats on this tour was simply amazing and I think was something to be proud,” he said.
The South African-born Arthur said he had a pool of about 20 players from which the final 15 will be picked for the Cricket World Cup in England and Wales.
“We’re probably ahead of lot of other teams ... we have condensed our pool and now have to finalize it after the Australia tour (in March), so we are pretty much on track.”
Coach backs Sarfraz to lead Pakistan at Cricket World Cup
Coach backs Sarfraz to lead Pakistan at Cricket World Cup
- Arthur said that PCB chairman had discussed reappointment with him prior to taking the decision
- Pakistan's media questions whether move was a political riposte at the ICC
India captain says will travel for Pakistan clash despite boycott
- Pakistan have announced they will boycott their match against India on Feb. 15 in Sri Lanka
- India need to be at the stadium on Feb. 15 to ensure they are awarded two points for match
MUMBAI: India captain Suryakumar Yadav said Thursday that his team would show up in Colombo for their T20 World Cup clash against Pakistan, despite their Group A opponents and arch-rivals boycotting the match.
“We haven’t said no to playing them (Pakistan),” Yadav told reporters at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium, where India will begin their campaign against the United States on Saturday’s opening day.
“They are the ones who have said no. Our flights are booked and we are going to Colombo.”
India need to be at the stadium and ready to take the field for the February 15 match in order to make sure of being awarded the two points for a match forfeit.
The tournament, co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India, has been overshadowed by weeks of political posturing in the build-up.
Bangladesh were kicked out for refusing to play in India and Pakistan’s government then told its team not to show up at the clash of the arch-rivals as a show of support for Bangladesh.
Pakistan and India have not played bilateral cricket for more than a decade, and meet only in global or regional tournaments events.
India start the T20 World Cup on home soil with a great chance of retaining the title they won two years ago and Yadav agreed they were the side to beat.
“The way we have been playing, it looks like we are the favorites,” he smiled.
If that seemed like an overconfident statement, the India captain was quick to caution: “There are 19 (other) good teams in the tournament, though.
“On a given day, when you play, you have to bring your A-game and play good cricket.”
India know that their opening opponents, the United States, caused the biggest upset of the 2024 tournament when they beat Pakistan in a super over.
Yadav said no team would be taken lightly.
“I’m sure every game will be very important,” he said.
