LAHORE: The director of the Pakistan cricket team, Mickey Arthur, will join the squad in India on Sunday (October 1) as the Men in Green prepare to begin their ICC World Cup 2023 journey on October 6 against the Netherlands.
Arthur, who was in England to perform his duties as head coach of County Cricket’s side Derbyshire, left the country to travel to India on Saturday.
It must be noted that Arthur was appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in April, earlier this year.
In this role, Arthur will be involved in designing, formulating and overseeing strategies behind the Pakistan men’s team.
During his time from 2016 to 2019, Arthur coached Pakistan to No.1 in Tests and T20Is, and also helped the side to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.
Pakistan lost their first warm-up match against New Zealand by five wickets despite setting a massive target of 346 for the Kiwis.
Pakistan, who lost one of their most important bowlers Naseem Shah due to an injury, struggled with the ball. Shaheen Afridi and Shadab Khan also did not bowl because the team's management wanted to give more match practice to other bowlers.
The Men in Green will now play Australia on October 3 in their second warm-up match before commencing their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on October 6.
Pakistan squad for ICC World Cup 2023
Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, M Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha.
Travelling reserves: Mohammad Haris, Abrar Ahmed, Zaman Khan.
Pakistan's schedule for the ICC World Cup 2023:
October 6 — vs Netherlands in Hyderabad
October 10 — vs Sri Lanka in Hyderabad
October 14 — vs India in Ahmedabad
October 20 — vs Australia in Bengaluru
October 23 — vs Afghanistan in Chennai
October 27 — vs South Africa in Chennai
October 31 — vs Bangladesh in Kolkata
November 4 — vs New Zealand Bengaluru (Day match)
November 11 — vs England in Kolkata
The day matches which will start at 10:00am Pakistan Standard Time (PST) while all other matches will be day-night fixtures starting at 01:30pm (PST).
If Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals, they will play in Kolkata.
If India qualify for the semi-finals, they will play in Mumbai unless playing against Pakistan, in which case they will play in Kolkata.
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.
