Follow UsThings are not as easy for Pakistan as they would have liked ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign. Following a disastrous Asia Cup campaign, Pakistan have more questions than answers, and the injury-forced absence of Naseem Shah has further added insult to their injuries.
However, when they get down to take on the Netherlands in their first game of the tournament in Hyderabad, they will be confident of making it to the top four of the tournament and then take things from there. Mickey Arthur stated that they will be playing an attacking brand of cricket to put pressure on the opposition.
“We're a very, very good cricket team. And again, that was part of the attraction for me coming back because these were all young boys that I worked with who have become men and have become very, very good cricketers. It's a very good question about the brand of cricket, and that's something that we're trying to get through to our players. The players have embraced it,” Arthur said in the pre-match press conference in Hyderabad.
“It's going to take a little bit of time, but I always say there's always two ways to skin a cat. I think our bowling attack is up there as one of the best and with runs on the board, our bowlers can generally defend that. So, you watch the likes of England and Australia, et cetera, playing this brand of cricket.
“Our guys will follow that. There's no doubt about that. They're good enough to do that. But we're playing a brand that we call the Pakistan way. We're playing a brand that is very, very particular to Pakistan and suits our team dynamic. And that's a brand that we're going to hopefully win the World Cup with,” he added.
Pakistan have some concerns around their openers, with both Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq searching for runs under their belt. That has added a lot of pressure on Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan to perform well every time, but Arthur added that Pakistan have some really quality in their line-up.
“We've got some very, very fine players. Yes, Rizwan and Babar are exceptional players, but let's not forget that we've got Imam ul-Haq, I think, in the top five ODI players at the moment.
“I think you guys will love watching Saud Shakeel bat. I think he's quality. And then, you know, Abdullah Shafiq and Salman Ali Agha are very, very good players. So yeah, they are very, very good players, but we are certainly not reliant on them. It would be nice if they kept on scoring as they are scoring at the minute. It takes a bit of pressure off everybody else. But we have some very, very fine players outside of those two as well,” Pakistan's Director of Cricket added.