Would have been a great player if Mickey Arthur trained me 10 years ago: Sohail Khan

Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Khan believes that he would have been “a great player” if head coach Mickey Arthur had trained him 10 years ago. During an interview on Friday, the pacer said that Arthur has been “tough” with him over the past three years; however, the strict training is not a problem rather a blessing since it has resulted in an improvement in his performance.

He credited the coach for polishing him as a bowler which helped him stage a comeback into the national side after being out of action. On the other hand, Arthur in an interview on Thursday, the head coach had said that Sohail was a decade too old.

“It is Mickey who has polished me the most. He has taught me how I should work for my comeback,” Sohail said.

A decade late

“If he [Sohail] had performed the way he is performing now 10 years ago, he would have been a great international player now,” Arthur told DawnNews, adding that since the squad now has young players in good form, trying to bring Sohail back would be a “waste of time”.

He disagreed with Arthur’s earlier statement that implied that he was past his prime. Khan did admit that his only issue was the lack of fitness which he has overcome considerably. He further added that there were players his age in the current squad; therefore, that was not a problem.

“My Yo Yo test result is 19.1. This is why I made a comeback against the World XI,” said the 33-year old.

Even though Pakistan as a team seems absolutely content with their pace battery and the variety of bench strength in the bowling department, Sohail claimed that he has his eyes set on becoming the man for all formats. He added that he has been training to be able to play in all three formats of cricket since a player cannot stick to one format in contemporary cricket.

“I want to prove myself like Misbahul Haq, Younis Khan, [Mohammad] Hafeez and Shoaib Malik and play longer,” he insisted.