Mickey Arthur hopes Asad Shafiq to win the game for Pakistan in the second Test match

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur is extremely pleased with the way his team has fought back in the ongoing Test match against Sri Lanka. The home team is already lagging in the two-match series and were reduced to 52/5 in a tall chase of 317. But then Asad Shafiq and the skipper Sarfraz Ahmed forged a record partnership and added an unbeaten 146 runs for the sixth wicket as Pakistan ended the day on 198/5. The coach is now hoping that their best batsman Shafiq to finish the game for his side.

The fightback from the unpredictable team had begun in the final hour of day 3 when Sri Lanka was leading by 220 runs and came into bat in the second innings. The bowlers led by Wahab Riaz wreaked havoc in the early overs as the team from island nation was reeling at 34/5 at the end of day 3. However, the collapse continued on Monday as well and Pakistan bottled them up for just 96 leading only by 316.

Shafiq is a quality player

Mickey Arthur heaped praises on the middle order batsman and termed him as a quality player. He hoped for Shafiq to continue batting well and stay in the middle until the end. “I see it with a lot of relief that we eventually see the partnership. They’ve both played very, very well. We were saying at tea time it has a bit of a Gabba feel about it, when we chased and Shafiq got 137. It had the same feel. I am so pleased for Shafiq because he’s worked so hard and we know he’s a quality player and he showed the skills tonight. I thought he was very good. I just hope he can go all the way for us tomorrow,” he said according to Indian Express.

The former Proteas cricketer himself was not expecting such a turnaround from the spirited Pakistani side after being bowled out for just 262 in the first innings. “I didn’t think I’d be sitting here talking about that at 6pm. It was a really good session. These guys double their partnership, we’ll win the game. I think there are seven overs to the new ball, so if we can cash in on those seven overs, put a little bit of pressure on, it could be a good ending,” he added.

Wahab Riaz struggled with his run-up during the second day of the game which had fumed Arthur but the bowler turned the match on its head by scalping 4 wickets in the second innings only to bring his team back in the mix. “We just worked through the problem (with his run-up), that was all. He bowled well. He ran in, got a bit of rhythm and did the job for us. So that was quite pleasing, especially when we were one quick bowler down. He stood up for us in the second innings,” Arthur concluded.