Red-hot Pakistan eye 5-0 rout of Sri Lanka
sharjah — The fifth and final OneDay International match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday could be dubbed a ‘dead rubber’.
Red-hot Pakistan lead the fivematch series 4-0. And, going by their current form the Champions Trophy winners look unstoppable, and more importantly, hungry for more success.
“I will be disappointed if we didn’t win 5-0 because the boys are hungry,” Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur told the media ahead of the team’s practice session on Sunday.
“The key for us is to maintain our hunger and ruthlessness. A record is not that far from us. We need to keep that momentum and put this series to bed,” said the South African sounding confident.
The coach has every reason to feel on top of the moon. His boys — whether batsmen or bowlers — have excelled beyond expectations. Players like Hasan Ali, Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq have brought a new-found youthful energy into the team. Such has been their impact that even Sri Lanka coach Nic Pothas admitted that Pakistan are on a roll and could wake up even at 3’o clock in the morning and execute their roles.
Arthur accepted the compliment but said it does take a long time to get it right. “That takes a long time, the guys need to understand their roles and they need to know what is required of them. They have grown into the role and grown into the styles we want them to play.”
With everything going Pakistan’s way, their only cause for concern could be a recent report wherein a top player was approached by a bookie. According to Pakistani media the said player was skipper Sarfraz Ahmed. However, Arthur refused to take names when he was asked for his reaction.
“To be honest the player reacted unbelievably well, he did everything required of him and we had a chat straight afterwards. It was handled brilliantly and I think that is a real example to our team and to the cricket world that a really important player was approached and acted to the letter of the law and did exceptionally well as a true ambassador of the game.”
Last week Mohammed Hafeez was reported for a suspect bowling action, but a few days later was also adjudged the best all-rounder in the ODIs which was released by ICC.
“That is disappointing,” said Arthur. “Because he is such an integral part of this one day side going forward in terms of what he bring with the ball particularly in these conditions, but I am confident he is going to get through that problem.”
The coach was happy that Mohammad Amir will be joining the T20 squad. The left-arm speedster was ruled out of the ODIs due to a shin injury. “He has done all his rehab. He bowled yesterday (Saturday) in Lahore and he went through fine. So we obviously will see him when he gets here.”
clareto@khaleejtimes.com