Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur praises Abid Ali while lamenting Umar Akmal’s poor performance

Pakistan’s 5-0 whitewash at the hands of Australia in the recently played ODI series in the United Arab Emirates is being widely criticized. Head coach Mickey Arthur also said that the loss was quite disappointing, yet he took positives from it as newcomers Abid Ali and Mohammed Hasnain showed promise.

Pakistan rested seven players who will be in the Cricket World Cup squad, which is why batsman Abid Ali and pacer Mohammad Hasnain were included and both grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Ali made a debut at age 31 and scored 112 in the fourth match but scored a duck in the fifth ODI.

“Abid Ali impressed us a lot. He played very, very good innings. He is hungry [to score] and wants to play for Pakistan,” Arthur was quoted as saying to the reporters. Abid became only the third cricketer from Pakistan, to score a hundred on his ODI debut against Australia on Friday.

Mohammed Amir is a big match bowler 

Arthur also expressed concerns over Mohammed Amir’s poor performance, but said that the fast bowler remains a prized possession for the team nevertheless. “Amir is a big-match bowler. He’s a wonderfully skilled bowler. It’s just that he’s not in form… It’s not necessarily his form, it’s the fact he hasn’t been taking wickets.”

He then went on to speak about Umar Akmal, who was given an ODI recall after two years on the back of his impressive performance in the Pakistan Super League. Although Akmal scored a 49 in the first ODI, he couldn’t quite step up and deliver in the remainder of the series.

“Umar Akmal trained hard and tried exceptionally hard to impress in all areas. It is disappointing that he didn’t get a big innings,” Arthur said. Pakistan will play an ODI series against England before the World Cup and will be looking to address a lot of their issues before the mega event in England and Wales.

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