KARACHI: While expressing his delight at Pakistan’s series victory over current World Twenty20 champions West Indies, head coach Mickey Arthur predicts the multi-talented Shadab Khan would emerge as a genuine all-rounder.

In an exclusive interview with Dawn from Providence in Guyana, the venue of the three-match ODI series starting on Friday, Arthur lauded Sarfraz Ahmed’s charges for their 3-1 triumph in the T20 rubber — an outcome that has seen Pakistan moving up from sixth to fourth place in the ICC team rankings.

“I am really happy with how the [T20] series panned out for Pakistan and even more happy that the younger players did so well and won the games for us,” Arthur said.

“The most important aspect though is that all the players really embraced the culture we are trying to create and worked extremely hard in pushing and challenging themselves to get better, skill wise as well as physically, and I think that showed in our general performance especially in the fielding department.”

The coach blamed the sluggish nature of the pitches at Bridgetown’s Kensington Oval — where the first game was staged — and the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain for the low totals throughout the first leg of the Caribbean tour. “I must admit it wasn’t an exciting series. The T20 games were not high-scoring due to the nature of the pitches. They were low and slow making attacking cricket pretty difficult to play.”

Arthur singled out 18-year-old Shadab — who on Wednesday was included in the 16-member squad for the three Tests against the West Indies — for special praise.

“I think Shadab was very good in this [T20] series and I just see him getting better and better. He is an extremely talented cricketer and has a very good cricket brain. He certainly brings all three disciplines to the table and in time will become a genuine all-rounder which is very exciting. Obviously bowling, his primary skill, is fantastic. He is gold to Pakistan cricket,” the coach remarked.

Looking ahead to the three ODIs at the Providence Stadium on Friday, Sunday and Tuesday, Arthur urged his players to guard against complacency as Pakistan bid to earn automatic qualification for the 2019 ICC World Cup in England.

“I think the ODI series is going to be a real challenge for us and one that we are really looking forward to given the importance it holds for both teams. We hear that the pitches are going to be a bit greener favouring quick bowlers more but we are confident that we have the team to take on any team in all conditions,” he said.

“I am not a big fan of momentum because every game is a new game and both teams start afresh but I am a believer in confidence and we certainly have taken some confidence out of this [T20] series into the next one.”

Arthur was overall satisfied with opening pairing of Kamran Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad who both were returning to the fold after gaps of two and one years, respectively, while saying they can contribute more.

“I was happy but we still need more from both of them and they will be the first to admit that we all want to be as consistent in our skills as possible. The signs are good though that they could become a really good opening partnership going forward in white ball cricket,” Arthur commented.

“I was impressed with their intensity at the crease and ability to manipulate the bowling. So, let’s hope that continues for us as a team because a good solid opening partnership is vital to our success going forward,” the head coach concluded.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2017