Mickey Arthur: “Our bowling equilibrium was out of kilter because Naseem Shah provides the consistency”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Recently removed Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur conceded that the team’s “bowling equilibrium was out of kilter” during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup due to the absence of fast bowler Naseem Shah.
Naseem had been bowling brilliantly in the lead-up to the tournament and was expected to play a vital role for the men in green since he was generating a lot of pace and swing when bowling.
However, the 20-year-old ended up missing the entire World Cup after injuring his shoulder during the Asia Cup.
Despite acknowledging that Pakistan missed Naseem, Arthur insisted that it doesn’t excuse the team’s performance in the competition, saying that the men in green simply weren’t good enough.
“Our bowling equilibrium was out of kilter because Naseem Shah provides the consistency, where it allows Shaheen Shah [Afridi] to attack, and then you can attack with your leg-spinner and you attack with Haris Rauf. So, the equilibrium was upset but that is no excuse at all because quite frankly we haven’t played well enough,” he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Pakistan began with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they bounced back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they were unable to make it through to the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign in dismal fashion as England hammered them by 93 runs.
Since he is still recovering from his shoulder injury, Naseem was not picked for Pakistan’s upcoming three-match Test series against Australia, which starts 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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