Fatigue has played a massive role in Pakistan's poor performance: Mickey Arthur

Pakistan managed to win just one game in the 5-match ODI series against Australia after the hosts completed a 57-run victory to wrap up the series 4-1. They posted a massive 369 on the board, following breath-taking centuries from both the openers. David Warner scored a 128-ball 179 while Travis Head played a good hand of 128 from 137 balls. Pakistan did reach the 300 mark but that wasn’t enough to register a victory.

Speaking on the disastrous tour of Australia, Mickey Arthur, Pakistan coach, believed his team had shown some positives, particularly with the bat. “Results wise it has been disappointing,” he told the media after the match. “We came here thinking we had a real chance, certainly in the Test matches. We are still a fledgling One-Day side. There are still gaps in our One-Day side…we have a lot of work to do in that regard but there were so many positives.

“We batted so well this tour… for a team out of the subcontinent that doesn’t happen that often (in Australia). We were really, really happy with that. With the ball and bat, we compete perfectly well. But there are other areas in our game we need to work on.”

The sub-continental side had a packed schedule in the last 6 months, as they had to travel away for all fixtures. Arthur revealed the team had succumbed to weariness during the past couple of matches.

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“Fatigue has played a massive role. You can see the guys are mentally tired,” he said. “We finished in England in the end of August…had seven days off then met in the West Indies and then we went straight from West Indies to New Zealand to here.

“We’ve been on the road for a long time and it has started to show coupled with the fact that our boys never play at home. It is tough, it’s not an excuse but it is tough for these guys” he added.