Pakistan men’s cricket team head coach Mickey Arthur has suggested the removal of Sarfaraz Ahmed as the captain before asking for two years to deliver “remarkable results”.
After the recently-concluded ICC World Cup 2019, where Pakistan could not reach the semifinals, PCB’s cricket committee, led by Wasim Khan, reviewed the team performance in the last three years. Arthur was summoned by the committee where he was believed to have asked for two years.
“I need two more years with the Pakistan team and then I can deliver remarkable results,” Arthur said. Notably, other than surprising ICC Champions Trophy win in 2017 and becoming the number T20I team, the team’s performance under him has been dismal over the years in Tests and ODIs.
According to a PTI report, Arthur suggested to the members of the committee that Shahdab Khan can be handed over the reins of the limiter-over teams and Babar Azam be the captain of the Test side. “Arthur did have some negative things to say about Sarfaraz’s captaincy skills to the members,” PTI quoted a PCB source.
Arthur took over the role of Pakistan’s coach in mid-2016 and his contract is set to expire on August 15 this year. However, the PTI report further suggested that Arthur, who made a presentation about the team’s performance and made his case to be reappointed, left the committee members unimpressed. The contracts of the other staffs will also be ending on the same day.
Reportedly, Arthur made a huge fuss about the forced departure of fielding coach Australian Steve Rixon and also expressed his displeasure regarding some payment issues with the officials. reportedly, Arthur has also applied for the position of Sri Lanka’s head coach.
Meanwhile, after Arthur’s presentation the committee members are believed to have discussed the other options and zeroed in on some of the names who could be roped in as Arthur’s replacement. Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardena emerged as a strong candidate for the position as some of the members backed him. But they were informed that due to his association with IPL team Mumbai Indians, it would not be easy for the PCB to lure him with a better pay scale.
