There was absolutely no doubt that India were favourites against Pakistan at Edgbaston and a result in Pakistan’s favour would have really left everyone surprised.
As expected Team India won the game but it is safe to say that few out there are still surprised and the reason for it is Pakistan’s spectacular capitulation. The much-awaited ICC Champions Trophy encounter between the two arch-rivals had a meek ending for the Men in Green while those in Blue, who are defending the title, proved their title credentials with a clinical all-round show.
After being put in to bat first, India rode on half-centuries from all of their top four batsmen to post a massive 319 for three in 48 overs due to rain. When Pakistan began their innings after a brief spell of rain, they were given a revised target of 289 in 41 overs. But Pakistan rarely looked in the game and finished on 164 for nine, with injured last man Wahab Riaz unable to bat, as India won by 124 runs (DLS method) with 44 balls to spare.
Speaking after the game, Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur did not beat around the bush and admitted India was clearly the better side while his side’s performance was below par.
“One team played really well today or played as well as they could have, and we were below par. As simple as that. And it’s a reality check of where we are in our one-day cricket at the moment,” he admitted.
However, Arthur refused to believe that Pakistan players were lacking in the intent.
“I can never ever accuse the guys of no effort. I think that’s an insult, to be honest,” he said. “The guys tried as hard as they could. My issue is fear. My issue is getting out there and really looking to take the game on and just believing in themselves and believing that they can take the game on. We talk about setting tone up front. We didn’t set the tone up front. We had a couple of guys that were in the clouds at the start. And that sets the tone.”
Arthur also rued the dropped catches. Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh were dropped on 44 and eight, respectively and fully capitalised on it with the former shifting gears in the final overs to score an unbeaten 81 while the latter scored 53 off just 32 balls.
“The worrying thing for me, and it has been for a period of time, is we just do the basics wrong. We do the simple things wrong. We drop simple catches. We don’t run well enough between wickets. We don’t hit the keeper with our throws. We don’t understand when to bowl our variations. We bowled a really good over and then we bowled a variation our sixth ball and that’s the ball that ended up going for a boundary. So it’s the simplicity of those things that is worrying me at the moment and our understanding of when to do certain things. So that was disappointing. But we’ll bounce back from it,” added the former South Africa and Australia coach.
When asked about the team selection, the coach took the blame on him for selecting Wahab Riaz who conceded 87 runs in 8.4 balls before walking off the field with an injured ankle.
“All right. Let’s get something straight first off. Wahab Riaz was fully fit. He went through a fitness test; he was declared fully fit. So it’s not that Wahab Riaz was not fit. He was fit for the game. Okay? He performed poorly today. But he had a role to play. And I’ll take the blame, me, I’ll take it. I selected him. I selected him because I wanted him to perform a role. Okay? He didn’t execute that role, unfortunately. So sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn’t. We picked Shadab ahead of Fahim today. That worked really well. I thought Shadab was outstanding. So, sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t,” he remarked.
Speaking once again about the reason behind the defeat, Arthur felt that the enormity of the occasion might have been one of the reasons.
“The magnitude of the occasion? Possibly. Possibly. And I think very definitely. Because for us to go and have our performance as tentative as that right from the start is a worry. And the only thing I can think of is the magnitude of the occasion got to them,” he added.
Pakistan’s Champions Trophy hopes now hang in balance and Arthur said his team is looking forward to bringing the campaign back on track.
“We’ll have a good, hard chat tonight. And then when we leave the dressing room tonight, it will all be done, and we’ll be thinking firmly of coming back and beating South Africa. Because that’s what I think our players can do, and that’s what I certainly believe our team can do. So, we’re going to be up for the fight, and I’d be really disappointed if we walked away, really, and for the rest of the tournament sort of hit our heads because we’re better than that,” he concluded.