The ongoing five-match ODI series against Australia is Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur’s last chance to salvage some pride from the tour Down Under although the wrong-footed start by his team at Brisbane is likely to pose further problems for him.

Following the 0-3 whitewash in the Test series against Australia and the two Test defeats earlier against New Zealand, the experts are seriously questioning the credentials of the South Africa-born coach and he can make some amends by winning the ODI series which will be a tough task indeed.

Arthur, who joined Pakistan team as head coach in May last year, was seen as a ray of hope for the national team after the 2-2 Test series draw against England last August. And although England beat Pakistan 4-1 in the ODI series, experts and former players pinned lot of hopes on Arthur to mould Pakistan into a formidable unit.

Read: Will Arthur succeed where Waqar failed?

In the home series at neutral venues of the UAE against the West Indies, Pakistan won all three ODIs and as many T20 matches besides winning the three Test matches series 2-1 and Arthur sort of justified his short stint with the team till that stage.

Arthur himself, however, had stated at the time that the twin assignments in New Zealand and Australia will be his biggest test as well of his charges. It was not to be as Pakistan lost all five Test matches which put serious question mark on Misbah-ul-Haq and his men and the support staff about their abilities to excel on foreign pitches.

Experts believed that it was a golden chance for Pakistan to beat Australia as the hosts were a weaker side compared to Pakistan. But Pakistan players failed to deliver in all the three departments of the game at crucial stages and even they failed to earn a draw, which appeared a possibility in at least two Test matches Down Under.

Having lost the the Test series 0-3 in Australia, Arthur sent his report to the PCB in which he blamed the bowlers as chiefly responsible for the sluggish show against the Kangaroos, conveniently overlooking the fact that being the head coach it is he who has to oversee the performance of the batting, bowling and fielding coaches travelling with the team.

Cricketing experts also believe that the harsh statement from former Aussie captain Ian Chappell against Pakistan and Misbah was also the result of Australia’s rivalry with Arthur since Cricket Australia despised him for the ugly episode in 2013 when he was Australia’s coach and was abruptly sacked by CA.

The ODI series is indeed vital for Pakistan because in case of another whitewash, Pakistan are likely to slip further in the ICC ODI rankings and will be reduced to playing the qualifying rounds of the 2019 World Cup.

The situation is not very encouraging and rosy for Pakistan team who have clearly been found struggling on this entire tour. The country’s most successful captain, Misbah, has also come under a lot of criticism after his ordinary captaincy and his own below-par performance with the bat.

However, with no real successor to Misbah in sight, neither groomed by the PCB, there is not much hope for the immediate improvement or turn around in Pakistan cricket.

Published in Dawn January 14th, 2017