Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur seems to be very unhappy with his team’s fitness levels and fielding standards. In a recent interview with the Dawn, Arthur stated that his team fell behind the opposition mainly due to this faulty aspect during the recent tours to New Zealand and Australia.
Pakistan’s time in the southern hemisphere wasn’t great as they were blanked 2-0 by New Zealand and 3-0 by Australia respectively. Following the consecutive losses in the Test format, the Men in Green also went on to lose the five-match ODI series against Australia by a 1-4 margin.
“The most disappointing aspect of our team at the moment is our basic fitness levels and fielding standards where we are way behind the rest of the teams. We have worked tirelessly at this discipline and are going to dedicate days at our training camp to just fielding and fitness,” Arthur said.
Arthur felt that the basics of the fielding are poor and this shortcoming cost them badly against New Zealand and Australia. He says that his immediate focus is to polish the technical aspects before improving the fitness standards.
“Techniques for throwing, catching, stopping balls and sliding need to be taught as our players have never been taught this and their techniques are poor. Again there will be no compromise on fitness. All the players have been given individual fitness standards that need to be met. We were at least 20 runs behind Australia in every game because of our fielding and that is not acceptable.”
The coach, however, is confident that his team will improve quickly.
“I certainly believe that we as a team are moving in the right direction. I said coming into this job that we needed to create a structure of excellence and we are certainly creating that,” Dawn quoted Arthur as saying.
“All the players that come into our squad now know exactly what the standards and requirements are to play at this level and to represent their country.”
“These standards relate to behaviour, fitness levels and optimum mental and technical standards that relate to their roles within the team. The players are clear on this and, barring a few individuals, have met the standards required,” he added.
Pakistan’s schedule remains tight as they now head to West Indies to play two T20Is, three ODIs and three Tests beginning March 31 at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain.