Pakistan director of cricket Mickey Arthur is hopeful of facing the host nation India in the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup after their humiliating defeat against the Men in Blue in Ahmedabad. The Men in Green were outplayed in the game, as they were no match to the home side on Saturday.
In their 2023 ODI World Cup match against India on Saturday, Pakistan suffered a humiliating batting collapse on the biggest stage of the game losing eight wickets in the game for just 36 runs with the lower-middle order batters failing to apply themselves in the match crumbling under pressure of the Indian bowlers.
Speaking to the media after the team’s first defeat in the tournament, Mickey Arthur admitted that the Indian team has a well-oiled unit in the tournament under the leadership of Rohit Sharma and sounded confident of meeting them in the final of the marquee event.
“This Indian team is a very, very good cricket team. I think they’re very well led by Rahul (Dravid) and Rohit (Sharma). I think they’ve got all bases covered and I’m looking forward to meeting them again in the final,” Mickey Arthur said.
Team India extended their habit of beating Pakistan in ODI World Cups by handing them a heart-breaking seven-wicket defeat with almost 20 overs played on Saturday in Ahmedabad. It was India’s eighth straight victory in as many ODI World Cup games and their fifth straight victory overall over Pakistan in the 50-over format.
The Key Is Remaining Calm, Staying Focused… – Mickey Arthur
Mickey Arthur was happy with the team’s performance so far in the event and wants the team to remain calm and composed to focus on the next games in the tournament putting this poor show behind to come up well in the remaining games.
“We’re two from three now, We’ve played well in patches in this tournament, but I don’t think we’ve hit our straps yet, and that’s the exciting thing for me’.
“The key is remaining calm, staying focused, concentrating on what our next opposition is, getting the strategies right for that, getting the team balance right, and then the next focus is the next game for us,” Mickey Arthur added.
As always, the clash between India and Pakistan attracted a lot of media attention over the last few days. However, given that Pakistan provided no resistance to its opponents in any respect, they fell short of expectations.
