‘He supported me a lot, shaped career of Babar Azam’: Amir names his 'favourite coach' of Pakistan cricket team

Amir said former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has nurtured a bunch of players who are currently strengthening team’s bench strength.

Mohammed Amir has lavished praise on former coach Mickey Arthur and his contribution in shaping up the present Pakistan team. The former quick termed Arthur his ‘favourite coach’, highlighting his contribution in grooming the youngsters and moulding them into ‘match-winners’.

Former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur with Mohammad Amir (Twitter)

During Arthur’s tenure, Pakistan had won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 after defeating India in the final at Lord’s. A year later, he guided the Test team to a stunning 9-wicket win against England at the same venue and take a 1-0 lead in the 2-match series.

In a recent interview with Cricket Pakistan, Amir spoke highly of his former coach and said Arthur is the person who made the team No.1 in T20Is.

“My favorite coach will always be Mickey Arthur. He supported me a lot. He gave Pakistan the match-winners. Mickey contributed a lot to Pakistan cricket in two years. He made Pakistan the number one T20I team in the world. Pakistan won the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 during his tenure,” Amir told Cricket Pakistan.

“Most importantly, Mickey Arthur shaped the career of Babar Azam, who is now the captain of Pakistan in all three formats. Some officials had written off Babar Azam after just two Test matches, saying he is only a white-ball player,” he added.

Amir further opined that the former Pakistan coach has nurtured a bunch of players who are currently strengthening team’s bench strength.

“In two years, Mickey gave Pakistan's team management eight to ten good players, who are now playing for the team. Even in the 2019 World Cup, we missed out on semi-finals because of net run rate. We were among the Top 4, but our net run rate was inferior,” Mohammad Amir signed off.