Arthur backs Pak to excel in New Zealand

Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur believes his players are in good shape at the moment and are fully prepared heading into the tough series against New Zealand, beginning January 6 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.

Talking prior to Pakistan's warm-up match against New Zealand that begins on Wednesday, the former South African cricketer insisted his side would have little to fear when they square off with the Black Caps in testing conditions.

"The team is in a good shape; we had three training days where the bowlers bowled 15 overs apiece, which is really good as they need to get used to bowling 10 overs in such weather conditions," the Express Tribune quoted Arthur, as saying.

Arthur, meanwhile, said the onus would be on batsmen, rather than the bowlers, to get accustomed to the conditions this time around.

The head coach called on his batsmen to work on their defence if Pakistan wanted to succeed outside the sub-continent conditions.

"The batsmen must acclimatise themselves to the local conditions. They need to work on their defence since your defence is severely tested outside the sub-continent if you are not used to playing in these conditions. I believe our batsmen have managed to do that," he said.

Expressing confidence on his side's preparation, Arthur said they have a very balanced squad at the moment and that all are very clear about the roles they have to play.

"We are going to cope really well here. We have a very balanced team and the players who have been selected all have a clear defined role within the side. The practice match will be quite important since it will be a very good rehearsal for the upcoming series," he said.

Pakistan are slated to play five ODIs and three T20Is against New Zealand.

The Pakistan squad is as follows:

Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Shadab Khan, Fahim Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Muhammad Amir, Rumman Raees.