PAK vs NZ: "Players Aren’t Given A Proper Chance" - Mickey Arthur Rips Into PCB

Conflict between players and the Pakistan Cricket Board has also been a part of day-to-day headlines. However, the team’s former head coach Mickey Arthur has advised PCB to build mutual communication with the players, so that they start to trust the structure of the board.

Mickey Arthur speaking in the conversation with Wisden, blasted the PCB and alleged that the players were not given proper chances. Arthur further added that the players knew about the instability in the PCB due to which things will always change in the board.

Mickey Arthur blasts the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)

Mickey Arthur said, “If it’s constant change and instability, players go into self-protection mode, and they end up playing for themselves, just thinking about the next tour. It’s frustrating to witness that because players aren’t given a proper chance, there’s no honest communication and they know things are always going to change.”

The former South African cricketer was the head coach of Pakistan when they won the 2017 Champions Trophy. Arthur returned to the team as the director of the Pakistan cricket team in April 2023. However, after Pakistan’s forgettable stint in the 2023 ODI World Cup, he was sacked and replaced by Mohammad Hafeez.

Pakistan finished fifth in the points table and were just able to win 4 matches out of 9. Out of the four wins, three came against low-ranked teams such as the Netherlands, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Pakistan were not able to get past Afghanistan, which was an upset. Also, Pakistan’s batting and bowling lineup was exposed against tough teams such as India, England, and Australia.

After Pakistan’s loss to India in the CWC 2023, Mickey Arthur stated that Pakistan lost the match because the DJ at the Narendra Modi Stadium didn’t play ‘Dil-Dil Pakistan’ which would have boosted the confidence of the players.

Despite all the baseless claims, Pakistan failed to leave an impact in every department during the 2023 ODI World Cup. Skipper Babar Azam, who is currently the number one ODI batsman didn’t play as per his standards and struggled to score runs. Also, the pace battery which was Pakistan’s strength ahead of the tournament had become their weakness. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf went for a lot of runs in almost every match and their pace didn’t come off no use to them. Fielding is an aspect that has been the weakness of Pakistan for decades.

The Pakistani players dropped a lot of catches during the 2023 ODI World Cup resulting in helping the opposition to put up a big score on the board and later win the match. Babar Azam resigned from the captaincy position in all the formats after the tournament.

With the new management headed by Zaka Ashraf and Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s woes have not ended as they faced a 3-0 loss against Australia in the Test series and a one-sided loss to New Zealand in the first T20I played last night.

Speaking on a local TV channel, Pakistan’s chief selector Wahab Riaz made a demand to conduct yoyo Tests for the sake of the fitness of the players. Riaz also alleged the previous management of not focusing on this aspect of the players and revealed that some players in the team cannot also 2 kilometers.