Shahid Afridi steals limelight wherever he goes. So when the popular all-rounder switched from Peshawar to Karachi Kings everyone was expecting a big impact from him. Afridi has done that, without even smashing sixes and fours. He has contributed both on and off the field and head coach Mickey Arthur praised him no end.
Talking to ARY News, Coach Mickey Arthur told how Afridi has gelled in the Karachi squad, “I can only speak incredibly highly of the contribution that Shahid Afridi is putting in the dressing room. He is like a kid once again. The catch he took the other day and said that ‘coach, look I am fielding well and can come into Pakistan team again. I am available” He is advising Imad a great deal and has been excellent in his role. His bowling is great and I feel he will play an innings which will help us win sooner”.
Arthur also told about the recruitment process of Karachi Kings this year, he said,
“I think first and foremost we were very particular about our recruitment process. We looked for players who were useful for us. We looked for players who fit in. That’s why we have Colin Ingram, Joe Denly, Ravi Bopara and David Wiese and we knew that they will give us performances.
“They know that if they perform here it will be the gateway for other leagues. They have come hungry and are keen to perform. The whole team needs credit for that. We have won three games and we are in a good position. We have played some good cricket but we are nowhere near any form of celebration yet”.
By defending modest totals, Arthur believes that Karachi Kings looks like Pakistan team a bit.
“We have seen it certainly with the Pakistan team that bowling has not been an issue. Batting is an issue with us and our fielding is something that we prided on. I am satisfied and the amount of hard work we put in on fielding at the national level has permeated at lower levels as well”, he said.
Karachi Kings’ coach is also looking for an extraordinary talent in PSL 3 like Hasan and Shadab, he said, “Hussain Talat has played a very good knock the other day. We had Hasan Ali from the first event. He stepped in and made a great impact. Then we had Shadab Khan and Fakhar Zaman in the second edition but I have not seen anyone who has given me the joy Hasan Ali and Shadab gave but we still have a long way to go this year”.
Taking about Ravi Bopara’s knock against Lahore Qalandars, Arthur said he gave a big lesson to the youngsters to play a responsible inning.
“Yes, that a big lesson. I was quite hard on Ravi in the team meeting last night. I think he allowed the game to drift (against Peshawar Zalmi) in chase of 132, he should have finished the game in the 19th over so he came with a little bit at a fire in his belly. So he played a brilliant knock. We were targeting 150 but he got us 10 runs more than we wanted,” he said.
Arthur also said that we may send our players to play leagues all around the world, only if it is beneficial for them.
“We will judge every case separately. We have 20 players in mind so we will be cautious about sending them to leagues. If that is helpful then we may send them but if not we will not send them,” he concluded.
