The void left by the two Pakistan legends – Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan – is not going to be easy to fill. However, coach Mickey Arthur is optimistic and feels that his team is moulding well with the right blend of exuberant youngsters and experienced players.
“Things are shaping up well and this is a real challenge for us. We had a good chat with the boys this morning. The challenge is there and it’s a new chapter, a new dawn for our Test team,” Arthur said.
Pakistan, who were at the top of the ICC Test rankings in mid-2016, lost their track later that year with back-to-back series losses Down Under in New Zealand and Australia respectively. They are currently positioned sixth just above their fellow Asian nation Sri Lanka – against whom they have a two-Test series coming up starting September 28. Arthur has his intentions clear going forward. “I think we’re ranked sixth at the moment and we have to work on getting it down. We have set ourselves some realistic goals. South Africa 2019 (Pakistan will be touring the South Africa in 2018-19) is our ultimate goal. That’s where we want to be where we think we can be with this group of players,” he added.
Speaking about the vacuum left by the two stalwarts, the Pakistan coach exuded confidence in the likes of Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam in taking the baton forward. However, he felt that burdening them with the pressure of filling in the boots would be unfair. “Of course it will be very unfair to the guys you bring in to the team to say they are the replacements. I think it is now on people like Azhar Ali, who has been superb for us last year in the Tests. Asad Shafiq, and to a lesser extent Babar Azam – it is incumbent on those three guys standing up taking the bulk of the runs now. The other guys are young and inexperienced and are where Azam was a year ago and Shafiq a couple of years ago. Every series we go into we want to win, as we are judged on that.”
Arthur, ever since taking the reins from Waqar Younis as the head coach, has always backed the youngsters, something that was evident in the Champions Trophy where as many as three Pakistan players made their ODI debuts and Pakistan eventually went on to lift the coveted trophy. He added, “It is a new dawn for us as we are going to see some fresh and young faces. I think that is very exciting in taking the team forward.”
