*ISLAMABAD – Pakistan cricket head coach Mickey Arthur has stated that hedid not deemed all-rounder Faheem Ashraf apt enough batsman to occupy thenumber seven spot for the first two-Tests in the ongoing series againstSouth Africa.*
“I am a big fan of the five-bowler strategy,” Arthur said. “It gives us theadded option of providing our frontline seamers with a rest while stillmaintaining control of the innings.
But to do that, we need a fully fit Shadab Khan, who is a genuineallrounder. With Faheem batting at seven, we feared the tail would be justa bit too long,” said Arthur, while talking to *ESPNcricinfo*.
The head coach was of the view that he is confident that Faheem wouldemerge as a proper all rounder for the team in the future. However, theteam at the moment needs runs and Faheem just not fit, added Arthur.
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“In what are very challenging conditions, we need runs on the board, and weweren’t confident that if we played Faheem at 7, followed by four bowlers,we were giving ourselves the best chance of making enough runs.”
Arthur revealed that the team’s environment ‘is absolutely fine’ and he wasencouraged by Pakistan’s second innings fight back, Pakistan scored 294runs in their second innings making South Africa bat again.
