Mickey Arthur: “I can’t sit here and fault the way he has come into the team”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has lavished praise on batsman Umar Akmal, but pointed out that he still needs to work on his fitness.

Akmal was recalled to the ODI squad for the ongoing five-match series against Australia following his excellent performance in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he scored 277 runs in 12 games for the Quetta Gladiators, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 34.62.

Prior to the ODI series against Australia, Akmal last played international cricket in January 2017.

He also had a frosty relationship with Arthur after making a number of shocking claims against the head coach, which included him accusing Arthur of verbally abusing him and banning him from training at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

Umar was also initially part of Pakistan’s squad for the Champions Trophy in 2017, but was axed after failing two fitness tests ahead of the tournament, which Pakistan won.

However, having turned things around for himself, Akmal regained his spot in Pakistan’s ODI squad and has made scores of 48 and 16 in the first two ODIs against Australia.

“I can’t sit here and fault the way he has come into the team,” Arthur was quoted as saying by the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) website. “The way he has prepared, he has been very good. He has done a good job while being in this environment. He knows the standings are to be in this environment to be in contention for a berth going forward. I can’t fault his attitude.”

However, with the World Cup starting in May, Arthur admitted that Akmal has to become fitter in order to be considered for selection.

“The fitness has got better but [he] has work to do in fitness,” Arthur said. “The fitness test is on 14 April and to be eligible to go for World Cup, you need to pass that fitness test.”