Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur believes Australia will be a dangerous team after their recent impressive fight back in the first Test of two-match Test series against Pakistan at Dubai that led a dramatic draw result but also confident on his team to come back harder.
While the second or final Test of the series will begin on Tuesday (October 16) at Abu Dhabi, Arthur believes Australia will be dangerous but also has enough confidence on the Pakistan side.
Arthur said, “Of course Australia will be dangerous after the fight they put up, no doubt about that. But I am confident that we are playing good enough cricket and we will come harder.”
Also read: Justin Langer: We’ve got to keep making Australians proud
Putting the 462-run fourth innings target in front of Australia, Pakistan bowlers failed to take ten opponent wickets as Australia secured a magnificent draw after scoring 362/8 in 139.5 overs.
Though Arthur felt disappointed with that result, still he is looking on the positive side to move forward for the next games.
The Pakistan coach said, “For me it was really disappointing that we did not cross the line. But the good thing for us is that it has hurt the players as if we have lost and that for me is a good sign.”
“It shows that the boys are getting mentally tough and maturing and do not settle for second best any more, and that culture we want to create is getting through to our players and we will be raring to go in the second Test.”
Arthur believes they can win the Test nine out of ten times but the Australian opener Usman Khawaja and the skipper Tim Paine played exceptionally well on the challenging fifth-day pitch.
He claimed, “We can win nine times out of ten on a fifth day pitch but Khawaja played exceptionally well and Tim Paine played pretty well too and took away the game.”
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed is facing criticism to start the day five with the left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz. Arthur also told that he advised Sarfraz to start with the right-arm pacer Mohammad Abbas and the leg-spinner Yasir Shah but some senior players advised the skipper to start with Riaz to get reverse-swing.
Arthur said, “I told Sarfraz that we should have gone with Abbas and Yasir but he had spoken to some senior players and they told him to bowl with Wahab Riaz. The reasoning they gave was that Wahab was supposed to bring that reverse swing into play and that there were some patches, but I think our best bowlers (Yasir and Abbas) should have been bowling early on.”
Also read: Sarfraz Ahmed backs his decisions and Yasir Shah
The in-form opening batsman Imam-ul-Haq will miss the second Test after suffering a fractured finger on the final day of the first Test. Arthur feels that it is a big loss for the team but it is also an opportunity for other players.
Arthur said, “Imam has been batting very well so it’s a loss. But that gives an opportunity to another player to show his talent.”
