Dubai: Karachi Kings coach Mickey Arthur is also in charge of the Pakistan national team. Even though his focus right now is on Karachi winning the Pakistan Super League, he is also focused on getting the right combination for the national team and hence didn’t hesitate to shower praise on Sarfraz Ahmad, who was in the opposing camp on the day as Quetta Gladiators captain.
Arthur even went on to say that as long as he is the coach of Pakistan, he would like Sarfraz as the captain of the national team. Answering a query on whether Karachi Kings team captain Imad Wasim can be the future national team captain, Arthur said: “In future, Imad Wasim probably can be Pakistan’s captain, but Sarfraz is entrenched in all forms of the game and, as long as I am coaching Pakistan, I am going to have Sarfraz Ahmad with me.”
Arthur confirmed that West Indies will play a three-match T20 series in Pakistan in April and that he has even settled on the combination for the national team. “Straight after PSL, we will be going into T20s with the West Indies. I have got a very clear picture in my mind about the T20 team, World Cup and the Test team. We are going to take medical test, fitness test straight after the West Indies series,” he said.
When asked if he will introduce new players from the PSL, Arthur said: “Whether there will be one or two players from PSL, I am not sure. The Test squad’s upcoming series against England will be cut down to 15 after fitness test in Lahore.”
As for Sarfraz, having watched two veterans in Shane Watson and Kevin Pietersen crack half-centuries against Karachi, he called on youngsters to learn from them. “The way those two played today, it was an opportunity for all the youngsters to learn from them,” he said. “When they get set, their shot selection becomes very good. Whether we win or lose, I want to try and give confidence to the lads.”
Sarfraz then went on to hail left-arm medium pacer Rahat Ali. “I have taken Rahat’s name very few times this tournament, but he is critical to Pakistan cricket’s future. Mohammad Nawaz set the tone and from there the match was in our hands, as Anwar Ali, and Ben Laughlin being with us has been a huge help.”
Karachi captain Imad Wasim had a message of his own: never drop catches of top-class batsmen. “They [Shane Watson and Kevin Pietersen] are world-class players and, on a good wicket, if you drop too many catches, it’s going to hurt you and it did,” he said.
Wasim had come in for criticism on asking Shahid Afridi to open the innings. Afridi fell for just one run. So he said: “We will see how it goes [on Afridi opening], we will see the opposition and decide. It didn’t pay off tonight, but obviously Shahid can change the game in a span of a few overs.”
Brief scores
Quetta Gladiators bt Karachi Kings by 67 runs. Quetta Gladiators 180 for 4 in 20 overs (Shane Watson 90no, Kevin Pietersen 52) Karachi Kings 113 for 8 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 32, Imad Wasim 35, Mohammad Rizwan 26no, Rahat Ali 2 for 29, Anwar Ali 2 for 21) Man of the match: Shane Watson.
