Coach Mickey Arthur Slams Pakistan’s Fielding After ODI Series Loss Against Australia
Jan 22, 2017 at 7:27 PM
Pakistan lost the fourth ODI against Australia in Sydney by 86 runs and coach Mickey Arthur had all but a disappointment to share over his side’s dismal fielding show on Sunday.
Speaking to media after the match, Arthur spilt harsh words such as ‘woeful’ and ‘unacceptable’ on his side’s out-fielding, who dropped four catches, resulting in Australia to rack up a colossal total of 353 for six in the first innings.
“We just can’t give chances like that. It’s unacceptable. Certainly, the standards we set for this cricket team haven’t been met in the field. So that’s really disappointing.”
Sharjeel Khan, who shined with the bat with a quickfire 74 off 47 balls, first dropped a sitter off Steven Smith on 49 and later put down Travis Head on 47. The centurion for Australia, David Warner also got lucky on the field, when he was dropped on 113 by Hasan Ali, Pakistan’s five-wicket taker in the match.
Glenn Maxwell, who dismantled Pakistani bowlers with his brisk 78, also handed an opportunity, which was also put down by Ali.
“(Dropped catches) allows them to push out at the back end. Maxwell should have been out, Head should have been out, which meant that we would have had two new batsmen there all the time. Those are the kinds of things we just can’t afford to do. If we want to get to where we want to get to in terms of rankings, we just can’t make those errors.”
As per Arthur, had those catches been taken, the score wouldn’t have gone that far and thus the result of the game might have differed. He further added that fielding is as important an aspect as batting and bowling, and if neglected, sides should be ready for a suffering.
“Had we taken those catches, those players wouldn’t have been at the wicket to take toll of those last couple of overs. Batting and bowling I can sit with tonight and take some positives out of it. Fielding (was) woeful and way below standard.”
After Pakistan were whipped off 3-0 in the Test series, they have now lost the ODI series as well, with Adelaide one still to go.