Pakistan national cricket team’s performance against India in this Cricket World Cup has hurt the nation most. After suffering that defeat, the disappointed Pakistan fans and media were continuously attacking their national players verbally. Recently, after making a great comeback in this tournament, Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has revealed his disappointing feeling after losing against India. He has even claimed that he wanted to commit suicide after that big match against India.
As Pakistan hasn’t made a good start in the ongoing 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, their match against India was a crucial encounter in this tournament. India and Pakistan met in this tournament on 16th June at Manchester.
India outclassed Pakistan in that match, while Pakistan players mostly disappointed with their on-field performances. In that rain-interrupted match, India scored 336/5 (50 overs) in the first innings after Pakistan decided to field first.
In the second innings, Pakistan was once batting on 117/1. But suddenly they faced a batting collapse that secured a great victory for India. While Pakistan had the revised target of 302 runs in 40 overs, they managed only 212/6 in 40 overs. India won that match by 89 runs (DLS method).
The guys were incredibly hurt – Mickey Arthur about the Pakistan players
However, Pakistan has made a brilliant comeback in this tournament after a week later. On last Sunday (23rd June), Pakistan beat South Africa by 49 runs. In that match, Pakistan players dominated over the Proteas cricketers.
After that much-needed victory, Mickey Arthur revealed his and the Pakistan players’ tough time after facing the defeat against India.
Arthur claimed, “Last Sunday I wanted to commit suicide, but it was only one performance. We always keep telling our players, it’s one performance.
“The guys were incredibly hurt, by media, by the public, by social media… The guys didn’t sleep much.
“What I do know is … when their backs are to the wall, we get some good performances out of them. Hopefully, we got a proper reaction from them today that can just shut some people up for a little while.”
If we play our best game, we can beat anybody – Pakistan head coach
After playing six matches in the ongoing Cricket World Cup, Pakistan has earned five points with the -1.265 net run rate. Pakistan still has the chances to qualify for the semi-finals, but they need to play consistently well in their remaining matches.
Now, Pakistan has left three matches in this round-robin stage. In these matches, they will face New Zealand, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Mickey Arthur believes that this Pakistan team can beat any opposition if they play their best game.
Arthur added, “And if we play our best game we can beat anybody. Whether that is New Zealand, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, our remaining games, or England, we showed, we put our three disciplines together we are as good as any team in this competition.
“Those boys … they try 100 percent every time we go down to a training. They are incredibly passionate about the country they represent, and they are incredibly passionate about their cricket.”
Pakistan will play against New Zealand on 26th June at Edgbaston. Later, they will face Afghanistan and Bangladesh on 29th June (at Leeds) and 5th July (at Lord’s) respectively.