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
Jordan make history as they reach Arab Cup final for first time with narrow victory over Saudi Arabia
- Green Falcons left to rue squandered chances as they miss out on what would have been their first final appearance in the competition since 2002
- Semi-final victory comes during a stellar year for Jordan in which they also qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever
DOHA: A header by Nizar Al-Rashdan gave Jordan a 1-0 victory in a tense match against Saudi Arabia on Monday and sent them to their first Arab Cup final.
Deprived of the services of Yazan Al-Naimat, who suffered a devastating knee injury in their quarter-final against Iraq, Jordan delivered a brave performance, greatly limiting the Saudi attacking threat across the 90 minutes.
The semi-final at Al-Bayt Stadium in Qatar attracted the highest attendance of the tournament so far, a vibrant crowd of 62,825. Both sides began cautiously, with Jordan lining up in a robust 5-4-1 formation that sought to restrict Salem Al-Dawsari and Saleh Abou Al-Shamat in the final third.
The game opened up a little after the break, as a tactical change from Jordan helped them gain greater control on the counterattack. Mohammed Abu Zrayq in particular proved influential down the right flank as he stretched the Saudi defense and gave the Nashama more attacking momentum.
The decisive moment, however, came from the opposite side. Mahmoud Al-Mardi delivered a dipping cross from the left, catching the Green Falcons’ defense off guard, and Al-Rashdan rose to head home the only goal of the match in the 66th minute.
Saudi Arabia responded with a series of substitutions, including the introduction of Al-Qadsiah midfielder Musab Al-Juwayr. The former Al-Hilal player helped link play between Al-Dawsari and Feras Al-Brikan down the left channel as the Saudis pressed for the equalizer.
Al-Brikan and then Saleh Al-Shehri both went close but Yazeed Abulaila stood firm in goal, producing a crucial save just minutes after Jordan took the lead.
The match ended on a particularly sour note for Saudi Arabia when last man Waleed Al-Ahmed was shown a straight red card in the closing moments after bringing down an opponent to halt a counterattack, as Jordan saw out their historic victory.
They now face Morocco, who earlier in the day defeated the UAE 3-0, in the final on Thursday.
