WELLINGTON: Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur was given a rough reminder of howquickly fortunes can change in Pakistan cricket after seeing his side slumpto a 5-0 ODI series defeat in New Zealand.
The whitewash was just the third 5-0 loss in Pakistan’s history, and thefirst since 2010. Speaking after the game, he said he refused to use theconditions as an excuse, instead laying the responsibility at the feet ofthe top order.
“They’ve got the ability and without wanting to look for excuses, they needto get better in these conditions,” Arthur said. “Our guys need to step up,that’s the bottom line. Our top order haven’t done a job for us in theseries and that’s a pity. Haris Sohail coming in gave us some stability,and he showed us how to apply oneself in these conditions.”
Pakistan’s struggles against the new ball in seaming conditions have beenbrutally exposed this series, with Trent Boult and Tim Southee running riotin the first Powerplay. Pakistan lost their first two wickets for under 20runs in all five matches.
They found themselves reduced to 54 for 5, 39 for 3, 32 for 8, 11 for 2,and 57 for 5 at the starts of the five matches, meaning they foundthemselves playing catch-up for the best part of their innings all series.With the World Cup now less than 18 months away, Arthur said the side mayneed to reevaluate their approach.
“With the World Cup coming up in a year’s time, it’s important now that thenext one-day team we play is a team that we really believe can shake theWorld Cup up.
It’s not discrediting to the players in the dressing room because theyhave tried exceptionally hard, but we do need to reassess where we go tomake sure we get it right next time when we come out, particularly inforeign conditions.”
At the same time, he defended the players that were part of the tour,lauding the way young players had stood up whenever given the chance, andwarning against writing off players who, just six months ago, won theChampions Trophy.
“Every time we bring young boys in, they stand up. They have done it, theyhave done it under pressure. They did it at the Champions Trophy for us.When Fakhar Zaman walked in, he changed the tempo in the Champions Trophy,playing fearless cricket.
Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, these are the guys who’d do anything for you.When we play in our own conditions, we dominate because our guys arecomfortable and they play very well there. This is like playing on thenorth pole for them. It’s so different but we got to be better at that.
“But our blue print that we had was good enough to win us the ChampionsTrophy, it was good enough to win nine ODIs in a row. But we haven’t playedwell enough here, and that’s a fact. Our guys have come out of playing alot of T20 leagues. I am not making excuses, that’s just the way it is.
We haven’t adapted well and haven’t played well enough. But the blue printfor us still remains the same, but obviously personnel changes couldhappen.”
Arthur also said New Zealand deserved credit for the way they had played,and that playing against them would be difficult in any conditions. KaneWilliamson’s men have enjoyed a purple patch of late, impressing in aseries defeat in India last year, before going on a run at home that hasseen them notch up a record number of consecutive wins.
They currently have a 100 per cent winning record this home season, winningtwo Tests, three ODIs and two T20Is against the West Indies before the 5-0against Pakistan.
“They are very good team. I am incredibly impressed with how they areplaying and I have watched them over the period of time. Every team rightnow in their conditions is a very good team.
But you are judged how you play away from home, and I watched them inIndia, and New Zealand played exceptionally well outside. They seem to havecovered all the bases.”