Mickey Arthur rubbishes reports of rift with Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed

Waseem Ahmed 11:47 28/11/2018
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  • All is well between Mickey Arthur and Sarfraz Ahmed.

    Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has showered praise on Yasir Shah and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed after his side’s big win in the second Test against New Zealand.

    Shah picked up a match haul of 14 wickets to lead his side to an innings victory over Kane Williamson’s men in the second Test at Dubai. Shah’s figures of 14-184 are the second best by any bowler in Pakistan history and only behind former captain and current Prime Minister Imran Khan’s 14-116 against Sri Lanka in 1982.

    The 32-year-old picked up 8-41 in New Zealand’s first innings before following it up with figures of 6-143 in the second.

    Praising Shah’s superb display, Arthur stated: “We knew he had a big performance inside of him.”

    “That first innings, I think there was a spell of about half an hour of the best leg-spin bowling you will ever see. Fourteen wickets in a Test match is superb.

    “Yasir is very comfortable mentally, and he knows what an important cog he is in our Test line up. He got his rhythm going and we felt he was really good.”

    Yasir Shah has come in for big praise from Mickey Arthur.

    Yasir Shah has come in for big praise from Mickey Arthur.

    The Pakistan coach also lauded skipper Sarfraz and rubbished reports of a rift between the two.

    “I was so disappointed when people were saying there was a rift between Saffy (Sarfraz) and I, because there has never been anything like that between us,” he said.

    “We get on incredibly well and we work superbly well as captain and coach. Sarfraz is an unsung hero. I know he gets a lot of flak. He has captained very, very well this Test match again,” the South African continued.

    “What goes unnoticed a lot of the time is his glove work. There are no dropped catches, no missed stumpings. We keep a log, fielding numbers, on every player in our team on what they have done, and Sarfraz is just incredible.

    “That sometimes goes unnoticed. His primary job in this team – other than captaincy – is to keep wickets. He does that exceptionally well, day in, day out.”

    With the three-match series at 1-1, Pakistan and New Zealand will now lock horns in the deciding third Test which gets underway at Abu Dhabi on December 3.

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