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ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY

June 17, 2017

Mickey Arthur

The Oval, London

Q. Is Mohammad Amir fit to play, and will he play?
MICKEY ARTHUR: He's fit to play, and he will play.

Q. Mickey, after that game at Edgbaston, you said that it had been a reality check for the progress of the team; have you exceeded expectations, and what is a reality now?
MICKEY ARTHUR: Who knows. No, I don't think we've exceeded expectations at all. We came here very, very firmly of the opinion that we wanted to come here and win it, and that has been our chat all the time. It's been used numerous times, I see, but we had the mantra we wanted to go to London. Well, we got to London; we want to go one step further now. We certainly -- yeah, it's been great to get to a final after where we were at, and credit goes to the players. They've been outstanding, the way they've prepared, the way they dragged themselves off the canvas after the beating at Edgbaston, was amazing. They've been really special in the way that they've bought into the concept that we wanted them to buy into and the brand of cricket, and they've done exceptionally well at that. So reality would be a nice win for us tomorrow. That would be fantastic.

Q. Mickey, this is the final, and both teams want to win it equally, but winning the Champions Trophy, how much more would it mean to this Pakistan team and the things that they've been through and transformation phase that they are going through, how much more will it mean to them as opposed to, say, India?
MICKEY ARTHUR: Look, I just know it'll mean a massive amount to them. The guys, again, have been special. I can't praise them enough. After the defeat against India, we had some honest conversation, and the guys took it on the chin and dragged themselves up from the canvas exceptionally well. For us it'll just be almost a clincher for us in terms of the brand of cricket we want to play, where we want to take the team.

The focus after tomorrow is certainly going to be on the 2019 World Cup. It's going to be creating a squad, it's going to be creating some depth so that we can come here in 2019 and give it a shake. But also buying into the way we want to play our game, buying into the way we want to play our cricket. This will just be a nice confirmer for the players that we're definitely on the right track.

Q. Just wanted to ask, what have you been telling the youngsters in the team through the campaign, Hassan Ali is obviously a few ODIs old, Fakhar Zaman also, so what have you personally been telling the youngsters on the team coming into the campaign for such a big tournament, especially after that loss?
MICKEY ARTHUR: I think the youngsters have been great. They've come in with no fear of failure. They've come in committed to the way we want to play our cricket. Every one of the youngsters that have come in, have come in, and made an impact straight away. That's a real confirmer for us. They've been outstanding.

I guess what it does do is it, again, just solidifies the direction we want to move in. That's the most important thing for us. But it also gives us an insight into the thinking of these younger players, and to see them come in and be very, very brave and very committed to the way we want to play our cricket has been very, very refreshing for all of us.

Q. Mickey, you said after the group match against India that the occasion got to the players. This is a much bigger occasion; it's the final. How do you stop that from getting to the players?
MICKEY ARTHUR: We finished our preparation today with a good chat just before we came down to the ground. The guys are under no illusion as to what the expectation is on them, but they're genuinely excited. I said before the Edgbaston game, I thought they were really, really calm, but they're very, very excited now, and there's a hell of a good vibe in that dressing room. Let's hope we can put our "A" game again tomorrow, because if we can, and I said it before the England game, if we put our "A" game together and do the basics well, we can beat anybody.

Q. Mickey, have you spoken about breaking the myth against India in ICC events?
MICKEY ARTHUR: What we've tried to do is just prepare as we normally prepare. You know, we've concentrated more this time on our own games, on our own game plans, as to where we want to go with the game. We dissected India a lot before the game at Edgbaston, and we've sort of backtracked a little bit on that now and sort of solidifying what we did really well, confirming what we've done well in terms of our bowling, in terms of our batting, in terms of our fielding, and building on that. So, tomorrow is going to be about us rather than the opposition, and we've made the focus us as a team.

Q. Mickey, just related to the previous one, historically what do you think has been different between the two sides at major events where India has always come out on top, as an outsider from whatever you've observed? I know you weren't there for the previous matches, but what do you think has been the difference?
MICKEY ARTHUR: I think the difference is exposure. I think exposure to massive pressure situations -- and let's be under no illusion, India are a fantastic cricket team at the moment. They're going in the right direction. They're playing some brilliant cricket. But exposure to high-pressure situations is what India have had above Pakistan.

The PCB has changed that a little bit now with the PSL, which has been a very, very successful competition. So that exposes more and more young players to pressure situations, and I think the more we can expose our guys to those situations, the better results we get out on the ground. I think we can see our style and method catching up with the rest of the world because we're being exposed to it now. In the PSL we're getting all our top players rubbing shoulders with some of the best players around the world, so that is rubbing off on our cricket now, which certainly there had been a void for a period of time.

Q. From looking not only against India, Pakistan has gone ahead and beaten South Africa, beaten England, now just one win away from winning the Champions Trophy, what caused the turnaround?
MICKEY ARTHUR: Well, I think I did say after the India game that that was an aberration. That was something we hadn't prepared for. We knew how hard the guys had prepared. We knew where all the guys were technically in their games. So what we've produced after that doesn't come as any surprise because that's how we trained, and that's what we worked at. It was very disappointing to see that go wrong in the Indian game. But we prepared to close out -- we've closed the chapter on that. That was an aberration. We're now moving forward. And the guys have played really well. And they've played exactly as I thought they would play because we've trained properly and trained well.

Q. The only match India have lost in this tournament was here against Sri Lanka. What did you learn from that result and performance that gives you confidence for tomorrow?
MICKEY ARTHUR: Well, I think Sri Lanka batted exceptionally well there. They played fielders' cricket. They took the game on. They were outstanding; they really were, with the bat. I don't think we can look too much into that. We've got to look at our strengths, and our strengths has been the fact that we've been able to take wickets and we've been able to take wickets consistently through the middle periods. If we can get amongst them with the new ball, we can expose the middle order that hasn't batted much this competition, so that's pretty much our aim and focus. Rather than looking at what Sri Lanka did, we've got to play to our strengths, and our strength certainly is with the ball, and if we can restrict them or defend against them, we have the attack to do that, providing we can strike a front.

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