PAK vs NED: "No, No, No, We're Definitely Not" - Mickey Arthur Says Pakistan Not Over-Reliant On Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan

Coach Mickey Arthur has denied suggestions that Pakistan are too reliant on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Pakistan’s fragile top-order as well as unreliable middle-order are seen by many as their weakest link.

While the likes of Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman are key members of the Pakistan team and are match-winners on their day, they have lacked consistency in recent times. The middle-order is also not looking very reliable as of now. On the other hand, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been Pakistan’s batting mainstays.

Both the batsmen proved their worth again by doing well in the warm-up games. While the likes of Fakhar and Imam failed to get going against New Zealand and Australia, Babar and Rizwan played impressive knocks. Babar scored 80 and 90 against New Zealand and Australia respectively while Rizwan scored a century against the Black Caps before being rested against Australia.

The way things have unfolded in recent times, many believe that Pakistan are too reliant on Babar and Rizwan. However, Mickey Arthur believes otherwise. The former South Africa and Australia coach said that while the team appreciates the contributions from the star batsmen, they also appreciate contributions from the others.

“No, no, no, we’re definitely not. 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. Fakhar Zaman, we know his quality, we know that,” Mickey Arthur said in the pre-match press conference.

Mickey Arthur on Saud Shakeel:

Mickey Arthur also had some words of praise for Saud Shakeel. The left-handed batsman played a fine knock of 75 runs in the warm-up game against New Zealand. His knock came off just 53 balls and was studded with five fours and four sixes.

“I think you guys will love watching Saud Shakeel bat. I think he’s quality. And then, you know, Abdullah Shafique 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,” said Mickey Arthur.

Pakistan will begin their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on October 6 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.