Mickey Arthur likely to continue at helm as Pakistan coach

Back in May 2016, Mickey Arthur was appointed as the head coach of the Pakistan cricket team. He has had a topsy-turvy run with the national side and has worked alongside skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed. His recent tenure was in the 2019 edition of the World Cup where Pakistan couldn’t qualify for the semi-final. The Men in Green finished fifth in the points table with five victories.

Recently, it has been learned that the Johannesburg-born coach is most likely to retain his position as the head coach at least until the 2020 edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia. The 51-year-old Arthur has already arrived in Lahore where the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) cricket committee will meet on August 2 for reviewing the national team’s performance in the mega event.

As per reports in Dawn, the initial deliberations over the appointment of the new head coach, new selection committee, other members of the coaching staff and captain had already begun. It has also been learned that the triumphs in the 2017 Champions Trophy and Pakistan attaining the number-one spot in T20Is under Arthur’s tutelage are the South African’s plus point.

Azhar Ali – The new Pakistan Test skipper?

There have also been discussions surrounding Sarfaraz’s future as the captain. Recently, reports suggested that he has been relieved of Test captaincy. The PCB is also contemplating the idea of ‘split captaincy’ with Azhar Ali being the skipper in the longer format. Azhar has previously led the Pakistan team in ODIs, but Sarfaraz was blessed with the responsibility in 2017.

Azhar has an experience of captaincy in 31 ODIs from April 2015 to January 2017. The report further stated that Babar Azam, currently one of Pakistan’s most reliable all-format batsman, may be appointed as the vice-captain in order to be groomed for the future. Recently, after Pakistan’s exit from the World Cup, many former cricketers have had their opinions on Sarfaraz.

Shoaib Akhtar, the retired speedster, said that Sarfaraz should be kept in the team for his batting and wicketkeeping skills and not as a captain in any of the three formats. Recently, Mohammad Amir hung his boots from Test cricket and his goodbye has created a lot of commotion in Pakistan cricket.