Pakistan Coach Arthur has inside knowledge of Sri Lanka

Mickey Arthur was Sri Lanka’s Head Coach two years ago and Pakistan is looking to use his insight into Sri Lankan players to good effect when the 1992 and 1996 World Champions square off at the Hyderabad Cricket Stadium tomorrow.

Arthur is currently the Director Cricket of Pakistan’s Men’s national team and Grant Bradburn, Pakistan’s Head Coach, said Arthur had added some intricate points around Sri Lankan batter’s and bowlers.

“We know their players very, very well,” he said to reporters in Hyderabad. “We have a secret weapon, if you like, in Mickey Arthur, who has coached them before. So, our scouting meetings this morning and our video meetings this morning, Mickey was a very, very handy addition to those meetings to be able to add in some intricate points around their batters and bowlers.”

Although Pakistan has remained unbeaten against Sri Lanka in World Cup matches, with seven wins out of seven games, Sri Lanka clinched a nail-biter at the Asia Cup to deny the visitor’s a berth in the final.

“We're really looking forward to playing Sri Lanka. They're a team that we've become familiar with over recent times, obviously with the Asia Cup, and we know well that they have had the upper hand on us over the last year in white-ball cricket. So, we respect all opposition. We respect the skills that Sri Lanka possess. And we're really looking forward to taking them on tomorrow,” he added.

In addition to the luxury of having Arthur, the Pakistanis are also familiar with the conditions at the venue as they have played three games there, including the two warm ups at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.

“We've had a little bit of experience in Indian conditions, and we certainly have used all of our contacts to scout the facilities as much as we can. The ground staff here have been amazing. They've been very, very good in giving us some information, " Bradburn said.

“But also, we've looked hard at the domestic performances here and the few internationals that had gone before so we've done our homework, we know what the conditions are likely to do and our players are certainly enjoying these conditions. We're well aware of what tomorrow's wicket should do. But we're trying to not overplay that as well, because the conditions are the conditions. And It's really about us bringing a determination for 11 players to play a winning impact in the game or winning impacts throughout the game. So, that's our real focus," he concluded. (Champika Fernando in Hyderabad)