Team director Mickey Arthur has put to rest any notion of Pakistan’s over-reliance on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan ahead of the team’s opening match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Pakistan will clash against the Netherlands on October 6 in Hyderabad.
Babar and Rizwan's performances shine brightly and their contributions to Pakistan cricket have been immense over the years. Arthur admitted the same but said that Men in Green’s batting line-up has enough depth that should not be overshadowed.
Mickey Arthur said at the pre-match press conference in Hyderabad: “No, no, no, we're definitely not. We've got some very, very fine players. Yes, Rizwan and Babar are exceptional players, but let's not forget that we've got Imam ul-Haq, I think, in the top five ODI players at the moment. Fakhar Zaman, we know his quality, we know that.”
Arthur also said that Saud Shakeel would be one of the players to watch out for in the World Cup. The left-handed Shakeel looked in excellent touch against New Zealand after he scored 75 runs off 53 balls with five fours and four sixes.
He further added, “I think you guys will love watching Saud Shakeel bat. I think he's quality. And then, you know, Abdullah Shafique and Salman Ali Agha are very, very good players. So yeah, they are very, very good players, but we are certainly not reliant on them.”
Arthur signed off by saying, “It would be nice if they kept on scoring as they are scoring at the minute. It takes a bit of pressure off everybody else. But we have some very, very fine players outside of those two as well.”
(ANI Inputs)
