Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur talks about the team’s concerns for the World Cup

The Pakistan Cricket Team succumbed to a humiliating 5-0 ODI whitewash against Australia. The team struggled to breach 300 mark scoreline in all the five games. Some of the senior players of the team were rested from the tour to give them some rest after the exhausting Pakistan Super League, a decision which came under severe scrutiny after the whitewash.

Pakistan coach, Mickey Arthur, has expressed concern over the team lacking some power hitters, who can bring the difference to the run rate. He also named a few players, who have been working hard on pinch-hitting, but said that it still remains a matter of concern, with the World Cup around the corner.

“That’s (lack of big hitters) one of our areas of concern,” Arthur was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz upon the team’s return to Lahore. We have to make sure that we get our guys to bat in those positions as best as they can. That’s the reason we used Faheem Ashraf in two games. He has done a lot of hard work in that regard and we wanted to give him more batting time.”

“We have worked really hard with Imad Wasim in that role. Hasan (Ali) can hit the ball long distances. Shadab (Khan) has worked extremely hard on that aspect of his game. Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez have worked consistently on their power-hitting. But, it is an area that is a worry and we have to work extremely hard to rectify it.”

Umar Akmal fails to bring the difference

Umar Akmal was handed a recall to the ODI squad after more than two years, in the hope to solve the missing big hitting factor, but after a 48 in the first ODI, he couldn’t do anything substantial in the rest of the games. Pakistan will play England in a five-match ODI series before heading into the World Cup.

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