Pakistan team director, Mickey Arthur has revealed a few names of players from Pakistan for the upcoming 2023 Asia Cup and World Cup tournaments. The Asia Cup 2023 will start on August 31 and the World Cup tournament begins on October 5^th in India.

Pakistan team will be looking forward to clinching one of the two titles as they had made the final of the Asia Cup last year and also the final of the T20 World Cup, but failed to lift both titles.

This time, there is a very good chance that the Men in Green, under the captaincy of Babar Azam might go all the way, especially with new faces in coaching staff like Mickey Arthur and Morne Morkel, apart form Gary Bradburn.

Arthur admitted that a few players from this group had recently shown potential when asked about the future of players like Imad Wasim, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Amir, Haris Sohail, and Umar Akmal in Pakistan’s One-Day International (ODI) team. He didn’t directly disclose any names, though.

Regarding Pakistan’s squad for the World Cup and Asia Cup, Arthur stated that there wouldn’t be many changes compared to the squad that played in the recent ODI series against New Zealand.

“We picked a squad that played against New Zealand. That is the squad we are going to draw from [for Asia Cup and World Cup]. Haris Sohail was in that squad but he didn’t play because of fitness issues. A couple of those guys have put their names up lately, but the squad we had for New Zealand series and the squad that will go for these events wont differ much,” Arthur said to Cricket Pakistan.

“We had around 20 players in that series, we just need to cut it to 15. It is not going to differ much because I believe in giving security to players as that will give clarity to them about their roles in the team. I don’t want players playing with an axe over their head or with insecurity about their place,” he added.

Pakistan team is currently on a break with many of their players plying trade in Vitality T20 blast.

“We Can’t Control What Is Not In Our Hands”- Mickey Arthur On Concerns About Pakistan’s World Cup Venues In India

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had demanded the ICC and World Cup 2023 hosts BCCI to change their venues of matches against Afghanistan (Chennai) not wanting to face their spinners of turning tracks and Australia (Bengaluru), not wanting to play their power hitters on batting beauty surface, apart from not wanting to play India in Ahmedabad due to security concerns.

However, their demands were rejected, with the only request of not playing in Mumbai, if the team reached the semi-finals.

When asked if there were any issues with the sites for Pakistan’s World Cup games, Arthur expressed happiness and said there weren’t any. No matter the location, he thought their team was capable of defeating any opponent.

“We don’t have any issues related to venues. We have got good enough squad to beat any team anywhere. I am really satisfied with the venues,” he said.

“We can’t control what is not in our hands. What we can control is our preparations and performance. As far as fans’ pressure is concerned, it would be tough for us to play in Ahmedabad in front of 100,000 people, there won’t be much green in the stands, but that is something we will sit and talk about closer to the World Cup. What I am gonna do with my players is to turn things positive for them. If we keep stadiums quiet by playing good cricket, that would silently be our fans, our support base,” he concluded.

Also Read: Will Withdraw From ODI World Cup- Pakistan Sports Minister If India Doesn’t Travel to Country For Asia Cup 2023