Former Pakistan spinner Abdul Qadir blasts Mickey Arthur, says coach ruined Pakistan cricket

Foreign coaches do not find it hospitable in these parts of the world when their teams fail to deliver as per the expectations. Pakistan failed to qualify for the semi-finals in the just-concluded ICC World Cup in England and Wales despite a late resurgence and their South African-born coach Mickey Arthur has started feeling the heat.

Former Pakistan leg-spinner Abdul Qadir has lashed out at Arthur accusing him of ruining his country’s cricket.
Arthur took charge of Pakistan in 2016 and his contract was extended by two years after the Men in Green won the Champions Trophy in 2017 beating arch-rivals India in the final. But barring that performance, Pakistan haven’t done too well under Arthur’s tutelage.

They went into the World Cup losing back-to-back ODI series against South Africa, Australia & England and could win only one of their first five games. It was after the thrashing they got against India that Pakistan initiated a comeback but despite winning their four matches on the trot and finishing on the same points as the fourth semi-finalist New Zealand, crashed out of the tournament because of a worse net run-rate.

Arthur, who was under immense pressure as like the players, even said after Pakistan beat South Africa in their comeback game that he had thought of committing suicide after losing to India. Arthur’s contract expired following the World Cup.

Qadir accused Arthur of dropping senior players

Qadir, 63, also accused Arthur of overlooking players like Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad and former skipper Salman Butt for the mega event despite the discarded duo doing well in the domestic circuit. Arthur even had issues with veteran batting all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez though it was later settled and the latter returned in the Pakistan side.

“Mickey Arthur has ruined Pakistan cricket. He dropped the likes of Ahmed Shehzad, Sami Aslam, Salman Butt, Umar Akmal, Sohail Khan and many others. These were the players [that] had the experience and performances under their belt to carry Pakistan forward,” Qadir, who had earned the Man of the Match award in his debut ODI game in the 1983 World Cup against New Zealand, was quoted as saying by cricketpakistan.com.pk.

“Even if there were disciplinary issues with these players, it’s the PCB’s responsibility to form a code of conduct and warn these players in order to avoid such incidents from happening in the future,” The former Pak player added. Qadir played 67 Tests and 104 ODIs for Pakistan, scoring over 1,600 runs and taking 368 wickets.