We need to respect his decision: Arthur on Sohail pulling out of England tour

Pakistan’s former head coach Mickey Arthur, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo, emphasised that middle-order batsman Haris Sohail’s decision to pull out of the tour of England, due to personal reasons, needs to be respected.

The current head coach of Sri Lanka claimed that if a player was not mentally ready or willing to go on the tour, their performance would take a massive hit.

“In the current circumstances, if someone wants to excuse themselves from a tour, their wish needs to be respected. Haris Sohail has played under my coaching tenure. He gives a lot of importance to his family. If he has decided to not go on the tour then his decision needs to be respected,” said Arthur.

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“Taking players into confidence by telling them about the conditions and environment is vital before training for the tour. If a player is not mentally ready for the tour than his performance would be severely impacted,” he added.

The 52-year-old claimed that day-night matches could help retain the balance between bat and ball after the International Cricket Council (ICC) recently passed a ruling to not allow the use of saliva to shine the ball, because of the current coronavirus epidemic.

“After the new guidelines introduced by the ICC, in order to have a secure environment for the sport, day and night matches can be a way to retain the balance between bat and ball. The pink ball retains its shine longer while the ball swings more under lights,” he said.