Mickey Arthur has fears of Pakistan failing at the basics in their do-or-die match against the Proteas on Wednesday. 

The ex-Proteas coach had to witness his team crumble against India, conceding 319-3 as India’s top order went on a rampage.

Pakistan were dismissed for just 164 in their attempt to chase down a rain-adjusted target of 289 in 41 overs, and Arthur went as far as saying his team faced ‘stage fright’ against the defending champions.

Arthur is afraid that the same might happen in their match against South Africa on Wednesday.

‘My issue is fear,’ he said. ‘My issue is getting out there and really looking to take the game on.

‘The worrying thing for me…is we just do the basics wrong. 

‘We drop simple catches. We don’t run well enough between wickets. We don’t understand when to bowl our variations.’

Despite this, Arthur still fancies his chances against his ex-side. 

‘We’ll be thinking firmly of coming back and beating South Africa,’ he said. ‘Because that’s what I think our players can do. 

‘So, we’re going to be up for the fight.’ 

Pakistan will be without their left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz who sustained an ankle injury against India. 

They have applied to ICC for an injury replacement, but they do have a like-for-like replacement in 27-year-old left-arm fast Junaid Khan, who took 4-73 in a warm-up match against Bangladesh.

Photo: Theo Japhta/Backpagepix