Whichever team Mickey Arthur has coached, its performance has declined, opines Danish Kaneria
Danish Kaneria has criticized Mickey Arthur over his management of the Sri Lanka cricket team and has slammed the Sri Lankan head coach for being overly harsh on the side on the back of losses. Kaneria also termed India as the heavy favorites for the ICC T20 World Cup to be played in October.
Former Pakistan bowler Danish Kaneria has hit out at Sri Lanka head coach Mickey Arthur for losing his cool and getting angry at the Lankan players in the ongoing tour of India.
53-year-old Arthur was appointed Sri Lanka's head coach in December 2019 months after he was sacked from the same position for the Pakistan cricket team after failing to qualify for the 2019 World Cup semi-finals. The South African was appointed with the vision of taking the Lankan side back to its old heights, with him boasting a good CV of rebuilding teams.
However, Arthur is yet to have any great impact on the current Sri Lankan team with his only ODI bilateral series win coming against West Indies in March 2020. Kaneria is of the opinion that whichever team the South African has coached has had a tough time on the field and also advised the Lankan head coach to nurture the talent at his disposal rather than getting angry at them.
“You need to groom this young team and not get angry at them after a loss. Stop giving them vague suggestions. Whichever team he has coached, its performance has declined,” Kaneria mentioned in his YouTube channel.
Ahead of the T20I series, Arthur adviced his players to stay away from social media platforms after the Sri Lanka team faced constant criticism for their gloomy performance one after the other bilateral series. Kaneria didn't seem to go with Arthur's advice of boycotting social media and criticised him over it, asking him to instead focus on feeding tactics to his players.
“Mickey Arthur told his players to stop using social media, but he should rather focus on making and executing the right plans for the opposition. This is the age of social media and in a biosecure bubble, players will use it for sure. What are you doing as a coach? What have you delivered?" Kaneria said.
The ICC T20 World Cup is just three months away and teams are currently experimenting with players in order to zero-in on the final combination for the marquee event. India are also in the midst of the same process, with a largely 'B' team facing the Lankans, but Kaneria believes that, owing to the talent at their disposal, the Men in Blue will be heavy favorites to lift the WT20 title.
“If this Indian team keeps on performing and executing their skills like this, and if there is a combination of this new-look team and the main team in England, then the opposition will be under serious pressure. This team is certainly a huge contender in the T20 World Cup,” Kaneria concluded.
