Speaking after the 107-run loss in Johannesburg, Arthur told reporters that despite suffering a second consecutive series defeat – the whitewash at the hands of the Proteas was preceded by a 2-1 series defeat to New Zealand in the UAE – his vision for the side going forward remains clear.

“I thought Babar Azam was outstanding. I think he’s taken his cricket to another level. The question marks that were always around Babar will certainly disappear now. I thought the way he’d played this series was amazing and he’ll just go from strength to strength now.

“I thought Shan Masood played exceptionally well at the top of the order and at three. Asad Shafiq played two innings that were significant and everybody else chipped in along the way. We didn’t get enough runs clearly, but saying that, the 430 at Newlands was probably just too many from a very good bowling unit. We’ve got some work to do particularly in these conditions.”

Despite expressing his disappointment at the series result, Arthur praised the work ethic of his team. “We’ve got some pretty high standards in the Pakistan cricket team and clearly we hate losing so 3-0 doesn’t sit well,” added Arthur.

“It certainly doesn’t sit well with me, and it doesn’t sit well with the dressing room. I can’t however, fault attitude, and I can’t ever fault work ethic. The boys have worked incredibly hard on all their skills, they have been fantastic. They’ve tried as hard as can be throughout this Test series, so from that sense, I’m proud of them. The other sense, we have standards, we can never accept losing a Test series.”