LAHORE: After a 5-0 ODI whitewash against Australia in a series which, for Mickey Arthur, was “an opportunity to rest key players”, the Pakistan head coach has assured a well-prepared national side will be fielded at the World Cup later this summer.

Six first-team players were rested for the series against the Australian side which had beaten India 3-2 in their previous campaign.

Arthur said the loss was hurtful but Pakistan’s upcoming fixtures ahead of the World Cup will help them prepare well enough to avoid humiliation similar to that against Australia.

“I am not satisfied with the way we lost the series. It hurt us incredibly. We hate defeats, no matter if A or B team is playing we are representing a nation of 210 million and it hurts all,” Arthur said during a press conference on Tuesday.

“But I will assure you that a best prepared team will be fielded in the World Cup,” he added. Pakistan play five ODIs against England, two warm-up matches — against Afghanistan and Bangladesh — and two 50-over matches against county sides Kent and Northamptonshire before the World Cup.

Arthur believed Pakistan’s fitness and fielding standards were not up to the mark against Australia but there were other positives to take from a series full of failures.

The South African expressed satisfaction over the performance of the Pakistan batsmen during the series.

Although, Pakistan failed to finish matches while chasing, they managed to register five centuries over the course of as many matches.

Wicket-keeper/batsman Mohammad Rizwan and Haris Sohail scored two hundreds each while debutant Abid Ali also smashed a blistering ton in the fourth ODI. Mohammad Hasnain, who impressed with pure pace during the series, also received praise from the gaffer.

“Five hundreds across the series was the impressive thing. The fact that I think we have certainly found a batsman [Abid Ali], we have found a young quick bowler that is going to serve Pakistan well for the years to come [Mohammad Hasnain] and probably sorted our fast bowling leading into the World Cup,” said Arthur.

“From that point of view, we saw a lot of positive things. Quite a few negatives as well and those need to get sorted out and sorted out quickly.”

Rizwan’s impressive performance had raised questions over the future of Sarfraz Ahmed as the Pakistan team captain and wicket-keeper, who is not known for his batting.

However, Arthur made it clear that Sarfraz is going to lead Pakistan at the World Cup.

“We know Saify [Sarfraz] is our captain and our first choice wicketkeeper. And he is going to lead us into the World Cup.”

Arthur also expressed disappointment over Umar Akmal’s failure during the series. The controversial right-hander could manage a mere 150 runs against the Australians despite impressing during the PSL — a performance which earned him a comeback to the national side in the first place.

“Umar Akmal trained hard and tried exceptionally hard to impress in all areas. It is disappointing that he did not get a big innings, though he performed exceptionally well in the Pakistan Super League” the head coach lamented.

Arthur backed pacer Mohammad Amir and termed him a ‘big match player’ despite the left-armer’s long-running lack of form. Amir featured in just one match against the Aussies.

“Amir is wonderful bowler. It is just that he is not in form and he is not taking wickets,” he said.

Arthur said an ‘individual plan’ is in place for every player who is going to be a part of the World Cup squad and final selections decisions will be made with input from the national selection committee lead by Inzamam-ul-Haq after fitness tests which are scheduled to take place later this month.

”I and Inzi are on one page. We will meet this afternoon. We have got individual plans for every one of our players,” said the 50-year-old.

”Those individual plans will evolve into the England tour, especially for the guys that we want to take [to the World Cup].

“Inzi, myself and selectors will sit down in the next couple of days and start our final work towards that World Cup squad. We will have fitness testing around April 14 and 15, and we will work back on individual planning again today.”

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2019