Arthur says Faheem Ashraf not strong enough to claim the seventh spot

Pakistan cricket head coach Mickey Arthur has stated that he did not deemed all-rounder Faheem Ashraf apt enough batsman to occupy the number seven spot for the first two-Tests in the ongoing series against South Africa.

"I am a big fan of the five-bowler strategy," Arthur said. "It gives us the added option of providing our frontline seamers with a rest while still maintaining control of the innings. But to do that, we need a fully fit Shadab Khan, who is a genuine allrounder. With Faheem batting at seven, we feared the tail would be just a bit too long,” said Arthur, while talking to ESPNcricinfo.

The head coach was of the view that he is confident that Faheem would emerge as a proper all rounder for the team in the future. However, the team at the moment needs runs and Faheem just not fit, added Arthur.

"In what are very challenging conditions, we need runs on the board, and we weren't confident that if we played Faheem at 7, followed by four bowlers, we were giving ourselves the best chance of making enough runs."

Arthur revealed that the team’s environment ‘is absolutely fine’ and he was encouraged by Pakistan's second innings fight back, Pakistan scored 294 runs in their second innings making South Africa bat again.