Ahead of the first Test against Australia at Brisbane, Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has reiterated the fact that bowling remains the stronger aspect of his side. In the pink ball warm-up game against Cricket Australia XI at Cairns, Pakistani bowlers were dead accurate as the visitors registered a comfortable victory. Nevertheless, their crisp bowling compensated for the poor performance from their batsman.
In a media briefing, Arthur was of the view if his batsmen could post anywhere between 270-300, then that would give the seamers enough on board to counter Australia. Without beating around the bush, Arthur bluntly admitted Pakistani pacers have the ability to take 20 wickets in a game. The likes of Mohammad Amir and Rahat Ali have had productive outings in the practice game.
“For us the key is adapting to conditions, and if we can adapt to conditions quick enough we’ll be fine,” Arthur said. “I constantly remind the players if we can be getting 270, 280, 300, we’re in the game because we’ve got the ability to take 20 wickets. If we can use the new ball particularly well against Australia, we’ll be good. And seven left-handers in their 11 makes our left-armers even more potent.”
Admitting that the batting line-up struggled in Cairns, Arthur said, “I thought we played quite well actually.” “Batting was a little bit of a struggle and there’s no secret we need to get some runs and adapting outside our own conditions is difficult. It’s like Australia playing in the sub-continent. “So we’re working extremely hard on that. But I was so impressed by the way we bowled. I thought we bowled fantastically well. We fielded very, very well, caught well behind the stumps. So we ticked a lot of boxes which was great.”
Arthur went on to add that stability in the batting order gave Pakistan an edge over their Australian counterparts. “The one thing we are is fairly settled,” Arthur said. “We’re a fairly settled unit. Everybody knows who’s going to play and where they’re going to play and how they’re going to fit in. The only issue is around our quick bowlers and that will be a horses for courses decision. The top seven know exactly where they’re going to bat, and they’ve known that for almost the last year. Whereas Australia probably aren’t as stable as what we are.”