Daily Times

LONDON: Pakistan’s one-day form is a ‘real concern’ to Pakistani head coach Mickey Arthur, who believes it could ‘take some time’ to improve the team’s standing, as Pakistan’s position at number nine in one-day cricket.

“We have not done well in ODIs. I think this is a real concern for me,” Arthur told AFP in London before the squad travelled to Ireland. “Pakistan’s position at number nine in one-day cricket is not good. Pakistan is not the number nine team but I do fear that our one-day cricket will regress because of playing the style or brand that belongs to the 1990s when the game has moved on such big amount. I also think that your fitness and fielding play a massive role. So we need to get our players up to speed on that. I have looked at the one-day players and they look good but it’s going to be extremely tough.”

“England is a very, very good one-day team now, so for us it’s about our progression. This is where our one-day journey starts. It’s not I am cautioning anybody, but I think it will take some time to get our one-day side to exactly where we want them to be,” he added.

“We lack all-rounders and we have to find them. I just look at England they have got so many all-rounders and, with us, our batting ends at (number) seven. In one-day cricket you need all-rounders, so we are trying some new things; we have some good players like Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim and Hasan Ali.” We have (wicketkeeper) Sarfraz Ahmed and we can have him up the order, so we have to get that batting depth.”

The former South Africa and Australia coach added: “We need to have attacking players top of the order and then have someone at number six who can clear the ropes.

Recently, Pakistan on Sunday bounced back at The Oval after comprehensive defeats at Old Trafford and Edgbaston to level the four-Test match series 2-2. Pakistan faces two ODIs against Ireland in Dublin, on 18 and 20 August, before returning to England for five ODIs and a Twenty20.