Our team can bounce back, says Pakistan cricket coach Mickey Arthur

Dubai - Doing a post-mortem of the defeat, Arthur felt that they batted outside of their roles.

India may have go one over them in the Asia Cup and avenged their Champions Trophy final defeat, and while Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur admitted that it was a below par showing, he felt that his men will come back better when they square off again on Sunday.
India knocked the stuffing out of Pakistan, the bowlers flooring them for 162 and then wiping off the target in 29 overs and with eight wickets in hand in Dubai on Wednesday. 
Doing a post-mortem of the defeat, Arthur felt that they batted outside of their roles and went astray with their plans.
"We were poor, we were below par, which is very disappointing," Arthur said after the match.
"We sort of batted outside our roles which was very disappointing. Imam (ul-Haq), it's not his role to be running down the ground to Bhuvneshwar in the third over. It's not Sarfy's (Sarfraz's) role to be hitting over the top and getting caught out there. We've got X-factor guys whose role is to do that. If Fakhar (Zaman) gets out playing that way, it's okay. If Asif (Ali) gets out like that it's okay, because that's his role. But the other four batsmen certainly need to take responsibility," he added.
Arthur said that the whole aura of an India-Pakistan fixture perhaps consumed opener Imam-ul-Haq.
"I think it was the pressure that told on Imam. As I said, out of his role, he had 2 off 8 balls or whatever, but Fakhar had just faced a maiden. So, he tried to have a go, he tried to hit the ball that's not in his area. If he comes down, he's going to be going extra cover, not mid-wicket, so yes I do think there was a little bit of pressure," said the 50-year-old.
Bowling wise too, Pakistan were just not there as the Indian openers - captain Rohit Sharma and his deputy Shikhar Dhawan - were on a roll. 
"On a wicket like that, you need to strike really early if you are going to defend it. We didn't strike early enough. But, saying that, we went away from our plans too quickly. We said that our batters batted outside our roles and that wasn't acceptable. With our bowling, we went outside our plans far too quickly. 
"We wanted to bowl hard lengths, hit the top of off stump. It was tough to score then. I think there was a bit of panic when they didn't strike early. We panicked and went away from our plans," he said. Arthur revealed that a long chat with his boys was inevitable as they look to correct their mistakes.
"We are going to sit down and talk about that. It's not good enough. Not acceptable," said Arthur.
Arthur, who took over as coach in 2016, said that they will come back better from the experience on Sunday.
"Whenever we go head-to-head with India, I am comfortable that we have got a dressing room of players who can stand up to it. I am comfortable we have got a dressing room of players who, on any given day, can win. So, I still think it's a 50-50. Lucky this game was inconsequential in the tournament," he said.
james@khaleejtimes.com
 

• Asia Cup 2019