Pakistan should not drop Amir from T20 World Cup squad: Arthur

Pakistan’s former head coach and current head coach of Sri Lanka, Mickey Arthur, in a YouTube video, claimed that dropping fast-bowler Mohammad Amir from the upcoming T20 World Cup squad would mean that the Men in Green are sacrificing their chances of winning the tournament.

The 51-year-old stated that he could not imagine the Pakistan team going into the T20 World Cup without Amir.

“I wouldn’t imagine Pakistan going to the World T20 without Amir. He is a match-winner. If you leave him out of the fray you potentially are sacrificing chances of winning the tournament,” Arthur said. “Amir spoke to me about it and he kept me in the loop on his decision. We discussed it many times. But maybe I was too hard on him playing him in every Test I could. I could see he was losing his hunger for test cricket and his body was not able to handle the pressure of three formats.”

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Arthur believed that Amir’s decision to leave Test cricket would prolong his career.

“Amir is a top class bowler and a match-winner. I love to watch him bowl. But by deciding to leave Test cricket I think he has given himself a chance of extending his white ball career. We had a very good working relationship and they were no major rifts between us,” he said.

The former coach believed that the young players would carry Pakistan cricket into the future.

“The thing about Pakistan cricket is that the people are so emotionally attached to the game. Either you are king or you are down there. There is no middle way. I loved and hated that facet of Pakistan cricket. But I think people need to be patient you can’t get instant results. You need to give chances to new players to find their feet. Pakistan has some wonderful young players, Fakhar Zaman, Imamul Haq, Haris Sohail, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf and of course Babar Azam. I think this is the core of players Misbah should depend on to carry Pakistan cricket forward,” he concluded.