Mickey Arthur: “Look Sarfraz and I have a great relationship. I’ve touched base with him but as you know, there are so many people in the shake-up for the 50-over World Cup. So we haven’t spoken about that explicitly at the time”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan team director, said he and wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed “have a great relationship”.
Arthur worked closely with Sarfaraz during his tenure as Pakistan’s head coach from 2016 to 2019 as the 36-year-old was captain.
He noted that with the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup fast approaching, there are many players who are contending for spots in the Pakistan team.
That said, Arthur made it clear that when he caught up with Sarfaraz, they never specifically spoke about the World Cup.
“Look Sarfraz and I have a great relationship. I’ve touched base with him but as you know, there are so many people in the shake-up for the 50-over World Cup. So we haven’t spoken about that explicitly at the time, but I have caught up with Sarfaraz because him and I go back a long way. We’ve got a really good relationship,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Sarfaraz was recently involved in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which the men in green won 2-0.
The Karachi native finished with 32 runs to his name at an average of 16. It should be noted that he didn’t play a majority of the second Test in Colombo after being hit on the helmet while batting.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, which will be played in Sri Lanka from August 22 to 26.
Pakistan Squad for Afghanistan ODI Series and 2023 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel (Afghanistan series only), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr