Mickey Arthur rues old style batting by Pakistan

The fortunes for the Pakistani team did not change with the change in format of the game. No wonder why the head coach of the side, Mickey Arthur, is a worried man at the moment. Pakistan suffered a heavy 92-run defeat in the first ODI of the 5-match series against Australia. The Brisbane ODI clearly illustrated the different mindset of the two teams.

Australia looked aggressive from the onset. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, their players continued to attack. On the other hand, the run rate of Pakistan team was far from being impressive – a mere 4.12. In response to Australia’s 268/9, the visitors bundled out for 176 in close to 43 overs. Head coach Mickey Arthur believes that if Pakistani batsmen continue to bat at a sluggish rate in such matches, they will lag behind in the longer run.

He rued the fact that the team went back to old style sluggish batting in this match. “I thought from the fifth ODI in England (in September) we had devised a brand that worked for us and a brand that would be sustainable for us at international level. But we went back to the old-style cricket tonight, which doesn’t really have a future and it means that we don’t get the scores of 300 that we need,” quoted Mickey Arthur.

He further pointed out that game has evolved and the ODI cricket is heading T20s way. “One-day cricket has moved on. We saw Chris Lynn tonight come in and it looked like he was playing Twenty20 cricket again. That’s where the game’s going. Scores of 300 are the norm. Three-hundred used to be incredibly good and teams used to win more times than not, but on wickets like this teams aren’t going to win. Three-hundred is a 50-50 score,” remarked the Pakistan coach.

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He also cited that the strike of batsmen of his side were no were in alignment with the demands of the run chase. He mentioned that the players have quality but need to back themselves to pull off wins in such matches. He rightly said that they had a very good opportunity on the day. It is not an everyday story to see the likes of David Warner and Steve Smith get out cheaply.

“The players have got the ability, there’s no doubt. This is an unbelievable group of players and they work so hard. It’s just about backing themselves. It’s all about getting confidence in those situations to play the cut or hit one over extra cover and try and put some pressure back on the bowler. That’s a confidence thing,” said Arthur.

“We’re not going to get Warner and Smith out for five runs again. We’re not going to have that opportunity again. Wadey played exceptionally well, but I still felt like we could have got them about for 220 or 230. We let that slip just a little bit,” he conceded further.