Mickey Arthur Pakistan Cricket team Coach Throws A Challenge At indian captain Virat Kohli Mickey Arthur, head coach of the Pakistan cricket team’s remark on India captain Virat Kohli’s batting has stirred a new debate in cricketing circles. Kohli has been in sensational form across formats throughout the last season. However, Arthur believes the 29-year-old will find it hard to score runs against in side in Pakistan. “Kohli is a fantastic player but our team will make it hard (for him) to score a century there (Pakistan). It has been a great pleasure to watch Kohli scoring against all teams and it is always enjoyable to watch his batting. However, our bowlers will not make it easy for him to score there,” Arthur said. Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has hailed the prowess that is Virat Kohli while adding a little caveat to his world-beating ability. Kohli, up to 33 ODI centuries and only second to Sachin Tendulkar, has raked numerous records in his career already. No matter the opposition or the venue, if there is one player that can be counted on, it is Kohli himself. Where players get phased by run chases and tough asks, Kohli thrives on it and it is proven by the fact that 20 of his 33 centuries have come while batting second. Of the 20 centuries, 18 have resulted in an India win. Kohli’s 100 in the first ODI of the on-going six-match series meant he has now scored a ton against all nine nations that he has toured. The only nation missing from his list is Pakistan. Even as the skipper acculumates incredible records and milestones in his career, Arthur believes Kohli would not have it easy in Pakistan. “Kohli is a fantastic player but our team will make it hard (for him) to score a century there (Pakistan). It has been a great pleasure to watch Kohli scoring against all teams and it is always enjoyable to watch his batting. However, our bowlers will not make it easy for him to score there,” Arthur said.
Given Kohli’s impressive batting record, Arthur’s comments surprised quite a few cricket watchers. Last week, Kohli notched up his 33 rd century against Africa. The stylish right-hander has now scored a century in all the nine countries (full-members) he has played in. While Kohli has not played in Pakistan, he enjoys a formidable record against them.
Last month, Kohli was crowned cricketer of the year by the ICC, capping off a strong innings for the superstar batsman across all three formats of the game.
Kohli is just the fourth Indian to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, following in the footsteps of batting greats Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Rahul Dravid (2004) and teammate Ravichandran Ashwin (2016).
India have not played a proper bilateral series against arch-rivals Pakistan since 2007-08 even though Pakistan toured India for a short limited-over series in 2012-13. Since then, amid political tension, the countries have opted not to tour each other despite being pencilled in on Future Tours Programme (FTP).
Post the 2009 terrorist attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus, the tours to Pakistan have dwindled. Nine years on, the game is making a gradual return to Pakistan playing in front of their home crowd but hosting a full-fledged series is still a far-fetched proposition. Most recently, Sri Lanka played Tests, ODIs and two T20s in UAE before moving to Lahore for the third and final T20. However, that game was missed by some members of the Lanka squad due to apprehension over security.
“Hopefully, India will come to play in Pakistan,” Arthur went on add.]]>