Mickey Arthur: “Batting-wise, we have to become a 330-350 team. The teams that do that consistently are the teams in the semi-finals. We do that when Fakhar Zaman comes off, but we can’t be relying on one player”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Recently removed team director Mickey Arthur said Pakistan need to “become a 330-350 team”, but noted that they can’t only rely on big-hitting opener Fakhar Zaman to achieve that.
Zaman had one of the most extraordinary turnarounds in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup as he was dropped following the opening game against the Netherlands.
After missing five matches, he returned to the playing XI and had two back-to-back dominant performances, hammering 81 and 126 not out against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively.
Arthur acknowledged that while it’s good to have someone like Zaman, he pointed out that other batsmen have to step up and make their presence felt as well.
“Batting-wise, we have to become a 330-350 team. The teams that do that consistently are the teams in the semi-finals. We do that when Fakhar Zaman comes off, but we can’t be relying on one player,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan won their first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before falling to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to advance to the semi-finals.
The men in green concluded their campaign on a low as England crushed them by 93 runs.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match Test series against Australia, but Zaman was not included in the squad.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will begin on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
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