After two years at the head of his Asian rivals, Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur admits to knowing Sri Lanka’s “strengths and weaknesses” inside and out.
Mickey Arthur, the coach of Pakistan, confesses that after two years in charge of his Asian rivals, he is well familiar with Sri Lanka’s “strengths and weaknesses.” On Tuesday, when former champions Pakistan and Sri Lanka square off at the World Cup in Hyderabad, Arthur will have the chance to re-get to know some of the players he worked with to help them grow as coaches from December 2019 to November 2021. “Yeah, I know their strengths and weaknesses so we will have plans put in place for all of them,” Arthur said to AFP.
“They are a dangerous side so we will have to be at our best to beat them.”
On Friday in Hyderabad, Pakistan opened their World Cup campaign with a nail-biting 81-run victory over the Netherlands.
The Netherlands were subsequently dismissed for 205 in 41 overs by their bowling.
“I enjoyed the first win even though it wasn’t a great performance,” said Arthur.
“But we did enough to win and when the game was on the line we had players standing up.”
Given his poor performance against the Netherlands, Pakistan is expected to stick with the same starting lineup on Tuesday, giving Fakhar Zaman a chance to recover.
The only Pakistani batsman to have scored a double century in one-day international cricket told Arthur, “I am not worried about his form. He is a good player and is just one innings away from a big score.”
1996 champions Sri Lanka will take heart from their valiant reply to South Africa’s record-breaking 428-5 in their opening match on Saturday in New Delhi, which they were unable to overcome before losing by 102 runs.
Sri Lanka will also be encouraged by their two wicket victory over Pakistan earlier this month, which saw them advance to the Colombo Asia Cup final.
Dasun Shanaka, the team’s captain, acknowledged that the absence of three frontline bowlers had hurt his team.
Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera were both entirely ruled out of the competition due to injuries, although Maheesh Theekshana is still on the team despite missing time with a hamstring ailment.
After the South Africa match, Shanaka observed, “It was difficult to manage things without three key bowlers, but that is part of the game.”
“I am happy with the positive intent we showed with the bat and the first ten overs with the ball were good too.”
Kusal Mendis produced a furious 42-ball 76 with eight beautiful sixes, while Charith Asalanka (79) and Shanaka (68) thwarted the South African attack until Sri Lanka were bowled out for 326 in 44.5 overs.
