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"Hafeez being reported is disappointing, he is such an integral part of this ODI side" : M Arthur

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"Hafeez being reported is disappointing, he is such an integral part of this ODI side" : M Arthur

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1538500/7-arthur-praises-sarfrazs-response-bookie/

SHARJAH: Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur on Sunday praised an unnamed player, believed to be captain Sarfraz Ahmed, for reporting a spot-fixing approach as “a real example to our team”.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Saturday confirmed a player was approached with a fixing offer during the ongoing five-match ODI series with Sri Lanka but he reported the matter to the Board’s Anti-Corruption Unit.

A source close to the team, on the basis of anonymity, later identified the said player as Sarfraz, although the management is sticking to not making the name public.
PCB informs ICC about bookie approach to Sarfraz

“To be honest the player reacted unbelievably well,” Arthur told media at Sharjah Stadium. “He did everything required of him and we had a chat straight afterwards. It was handled brilliantly and I think that is a real example to our team and to the cricket world that a really important player was approached and acted to the letter of the law and did exceptionally well as a true ambassador of the game.”

PCB chairman on Friday tweeted that the matter was also referred to the International Cricket Council.

Arthur remains confident that all of his players would’ve acted the same way had they been approached. “I am very comfortable with our players. They are outstanding and they are intelligent young men and individuals and I have no doubt that if anyone is approached they will do the same way as the individual did,” said Arthur.

Per the anti-corruption rules, a player is required to instantly report a fixing offer, failure to which results in a minimum of six months to a maximum of lifetime ban.

Pakistan cricket received a jolt in February when two of their players — Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif — were caught in a spot-fixing scandal which rocked the second edition of the Pakistan Super League held in the UAE.

Beating the bookies

Sharjeel was banned for five years (two and a half years of which were suspended), while Khalid was banned for five years and fined one million rupees ($10,000).

‘Fakhar needs to adjust to slow pitches’

Fakhar Zaman, centurion in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, hasn’t been able to replicate the same flair in the ongoing ODI series, and Arthur believes he needs to learn to adjust to the pace in the pitch.

“It worries me that a good player like Fakhar is not able to score runs,” he said. “What Fakhar needs to learn is that he played on fast pitches in England, but in UAE the pitches are slow and don’t allow him to play much strokes.”

Arthur suggested Fakhar to rotate strike more to develop his game further. “He needs to learn to rotate strike a bit more, and needs to learn to take singles to get to the other end. That is going to be the key in the development of Fakhar if he wants to become a good batsman. He still is a key player for the team and after he plays the last ODI, he will be taking his form to the T20 series.”
‘Players hungry for victory’

Pakistan are leading 4-0 in the five-match ODI series and will be taking on Sri Lanka in the fifth ODI in Sharjah on Monday to try and earn a whitewash, and Arthur says players have enough hunger to pull that off.

“They guys have hunger for the win which they had been having in the previous ODI matches, so I am pretty confident they’ll win the [last] match, but if they don’t, it will be really disappointing. We are not very far away from making a world record so we want to maintain that too.”
 
Why doesn't anybody ask Mickey or Sarfaraz about testing out Harris Sohail.... His form was superb in the Test series... And maybe give him a shot by giving rest to one of Imad, Malik or Hafeez
 
During interview he says Haris didn't pass the fitness test and he is working hard on fitness....video uploaded on youtube.
 
Micky Arthur press conference for tomorrow's match - talks injuries/Hafeez and Fakhar

prv_1508687109.jpeg

Fakhar Zaman sprung into spotlight at The Oval in the Champions Trophy final following his stellar century that eventually was instrumental in Pakistan lifting the title. After his 114 back in June, the next One-Day International he played was against Sri Lanka in the ongoing five-match series in the UAE. He started off well, aggressively in fact, deflating the Sri Lankan bowlers early on, but couldn't convert his start in the opening one-dayer, falling for 43. What seemed like a good start for the left-hander, now is a cause of concern for the management given his following scores of 11, 29 and 17.

"I would be lying if I say it is not a little worrying," said Pakistan's head coach Mickey Arthur on Sunday (October 22), on the eve of the fifth and final one-dayer in Sharjah. "Fakhar is a really good player. What we need is for him to learn and we will continue talking to him. He played in England on really good wickets. The other wickets have been a lot slower and haven't allowed him to play strokes as much as he could have done. The key for Fakhar now is learning to take strike a little bit more. So he's got to be able to get singles and get to the other end. That is going to be the key in his development as a batsman but he is still our X-factor player and hopefully he does well tomorrow," he added.

While Zaman has had difficulty in adjusting to the conditions and slower pitches in the UAE, his fellow batsman Babar Azam has thrived, topping the run-charts this series with 303 runs in four innings with two centuries and one fifty at No.3. The run-spree has seen Babar rise to a career-best spot in the ICC rankings, validating his growth as a batsman. He, however, was not the only one to have risen in stature; Hasan Ali, who has been instrumental for Pakistan in the middle overs, rose to the top after his 12 wickets so far, and the duo, understandably drew applause from their coach.

"When we are winning, we are winning well, and now we have a young guy who a year ago wasn't in our team is suddenly the No.1 bowler in the world and also Babar Azam has moved to No.4 in the world. That is a great compliment to those players and that also shows we started to gel as a really good as a one-day unit. Those guys have been outstanding," said Arthur.

After Mohammad Hafeez rose to the top of ODI all-rounders, he was reported a third time for suspect action during the third one-dayer in Abu Dhabi. Hafeez had already been reported twice earlier for an illegal bowling action and was suspended from bowling both times.

"That is disappointing because he is such an integral part of this one-day side going forward in terms of what he brings with the ball particularly in these conditions," said Arthur. "We spent the last couple of days going back on a few videos and the stuff when he came back and we are confident that he is fine. I am pretty sure he is going get through that problem," Arthur added of his ace all-rounder.

That wasn't the only setback that Pakistan have faced. They have had a slew of injuries that they have had to deal with. It all began with Mohammad Amir who was ruled out of the entire one-day series with a shin injury. Faheem Ashraf played the third one-dayer and did his calf muscle. Haris Sohail, who was impressive in the Test series with five wickets and vital contributions with the bat, didn't pass a fitness test and the latest was Babar Azam picking up a groin injury.

"It's been a pity that we have picked up a couple of injuries," rued Arthur. "I thought Faheem bowled great lengths. I would have loved to see him, but he did a calf muscle. Rumman Raees is out of the Twenty20; Haris didn't pass a fitness test, but is pretty close to playing. Babar has pulled a groin. We need to take all that consideration."

Despite the injuries' setback, Pakistan are well-set to complete a comfortable whitewash of Sri Lanka - going by the previous four games and the visitors' dismal capitulation and struggles with the bat. Arthur called for his side to not be complacent and complete the job at hand in immaculate fashion. "I will be disappointed if we didn't (win 5-0) because the guys are hungry and the guys want to definitely do that. The key for us is to maintain our hunger and ruthlessness."

http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/97930/pakistan-v-sri-lanka-fakhar-zamans-lack-of-form-a-little-worrying-says-mickey-arthur
 
Doesn't look like Babar will be playing tomorrow and Haris is still not overcome his injury. Faheem is still out with a calf injury too.

Could be a dicey looking middle-order tomorrow.
 
If everybody injured then Hero must be back
Playing XI

Hero
Fakhar
Imam
Malik
Hafeez
Sarfraz
Hero2
Shadab
Hassan
Junaid
Usman
 
Bhai koi ghayara player hain bhi jo khila sakoo.....




You guys know what this means?????




The return of the jedi... the undead... the primo.... the greatest there ever was and will be.....



Ahmed-Shahzad-1.jpg




:salute


#karlo jo karna hai
 
During interview he says Haris didn't pass the fitness test and he is working hard on fitness....video uploaded on youtube.

So you mean to tell us that fitness test aren't specifically designed to keep the Akmal brothers out of the team and the standard is applied no matter who the player is?
 
So you mean to tell us that fitness test aren't specifically designed to keep the Akmal brothers out of the team and the standard is applied no matter who the player is?

What a Shocker (to say the least!!)
 
Blessed in all facets showing his incosistent batting again better to drop him in the long run.
 
I am sorry to say, but this is exactly what I expected from Arthur, in fact any non Asian coach including Woolmer - thanks to [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION], for opening my eyes.

I have to say, Arthur doesn't know how to use classical spinners as an attacking weapon. I saw this in Bob's strategy, same for Arthur in SAF & AUS team as well - for them, spinner is all about managing over rate & bowl defensively to restrict scoring; so they look for darters (spinners) who can bat. Arthur took Ashton Ager over Lyon in India and UK, while Bob's SAF had Symcox & Crooks; later for PAK he one by one dropped Saq, Mush, Arshad & Dani for Afridi, MoHa, Malik - it was after his death that Rehman got the chance for PAK, though from 2002 to 2006, I can name few spinners running riot in PAK domestics, including Zulfi Babar.

This is exactly same here - picking one specialist spinner in UAE Test and try to extract overs from Hari & Asad :(It was good fortune for PAK that Arthur joined when Yasir was well established, otherwise almost certainly he would have been dropped from Test team for Shadab or even Saad Nasim. Unless someone grabs the bull by horn, he is going to rag the core strength of PAK team - bowling versatility. Here also his preference are Imad, Moha, Bilal ....

Sarfraz is too young now, but he has to protect his spinners, otherwise eventually he'll be held responsible, even by those who is singing Qualli for him now.
 
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I am sorry to say, but this is exactly what I expected from Arthur, in fact any non Asian coach including Woolmer - thanks to [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION], for opening my eyes.

I have to say, Arthur doesn't know how to use classical spinners as an attacking weapon. I saw this in Bob's strategy, same for Arthur in SAF & AUS team as well - for them, spinner is all about managing over rate & bowl defensively to restrict scoring; so they look for darters (spinners) who can bat. Arthur took Ashton Ager over Lyon in India and UK, while Bob's SAF had Symcox & Crooks; later for PAK he one by one dropped Saq, Mush, Arshad & Dani for Afridi, MoHa, Malik - it was after his death that Rehman got the chance for PAK, though from 2002 to 2006, I can name few spinners running riot in PAK domestics, including Zulfi Babar.

This is exactly same here - picking one specialist spinner in UAE Test and try to extract overs from Hari & Asad :(It was good fortune for PAK that Arthur joined when Yasir was well established, otherwise almost certainly he would have been dropped from Test team for Shadab or even Saad Nasim. Unless someone grabs the bull by horn, he is going to rag the core strength of PAK team - bowling versatility. Here also his preference are Imad, Moha, Bilal ....

Sarfraz is too young now, but he has to protect his spinners, otherwise eventually he'll be held responsible, even by those who is singing Qualli for him now.

I have to edit it a bit, but can't - if I could, I have replaced that "Non Asian" with "English". Aussies & Kiwis are also non Asian, but Dav, Wright are fantastic using spinners, Simpson, Moody as well, so was Lawson. I do believe Aussie coaches were fantastic using spinners as attacking weapon - for their team, they always pick specialist spinners, and their Coaches used Murali, Rangana to devastating effect. In fact, we had about 9/10 years under Aussie Coaches for National & junior levels and they always tried to promote classical spinners, regardless of their batting.
 
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Considering all the injuries, the expected team might be:

Imam
Fakhar
Hafeez
Haris (lower fitness but not injured)
Malik
Sarfraz
Imad
Shadab
Hasan
Junaid
Usman
 
Met Hafeez in Dubai. He was an incredible gentleman. Despite my misgivings about his merit as a player, rooting for him :)
 
His current form is very good and he deserve his place in the team if not as a batsman or as an all rounder even then as a bowler he can fit in this team.

His bowling action under question is an awful situation for Pakistan.
 
So you mean to tell us that fitness test aren't specifically designed to keep the Akmal brothers out of the team and the standard is applied no matter who the player is?

What a Shocker (to say the least!!)

guys calm down- when you are injured, you have a specific fitness test to see if you are over the specific injury.

So this is not a standard ''how fit you are in general'' fitness test.

There is a difference- you hear it with football players all the time- so and so is injured and will have to pass a fitness test on the day to play- its not because their basic standard of fitness is poor!
 
hafeez haters will be down after those comments by the coach- I have always seen the guys merits in keeping it TIGHT when he bowls- and his batting is showing positivity atm, so I'm hoping he clears the test
 
Hafeez merits a place when he bowls, and bowls well.

When he doesn't do either you can't complain when he's replaced.
 
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