Pakistan director of cricket Mickey Arthur was not happy with the lack of support his team got in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi stadium when they clashed with India on October 14 in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.
India defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets in the crunch match. Pakistan had posted 191 after being asked to bat first with Babar Azam scoring 50 and Jasprit Bumrah taking 2/19. In response, Rohit Sharma’s 86 and Shreyas Iyer’s 53* were enough for India to achieve the target with 117 balls to spare and 7 wickets in hand. Bumrah was given the Player of the Match for his brilliant bowling.
In the post-match press conference, Mickey Arthur took a dig at the BCCI – the governing body for cricket in India, saying the absence of support for Pakistan in the 132,000-capacity stadium made the occasion look more like “a BCCI event” rather than an ICC event.
After Pakistanis failed to secure visas from Indian consulates to cross the border, the majority of the Ahmedabad stadium was awash with blue-jersey-wearing Indian supporters, which seemingly didn’t go down well with Arthur.
“It didn’t seem like an ICC event to be brutally honest. It seemed like a bilateral series; it seemed like a BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) event. I didn’t hear ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ (‘My heart is Pakistan’) coming through too often tonight. So yes, that does play a role, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse,” Arthur said.
https://twitter.com/iamselfish4466/status/1713233927132094723
Despite the bizarre excuses, Arthur admitted that Pakistan’s ‘timid’ playing style was perhaps the reason for the side’s downfall.
Wasim Jaffer Takes Brutal Dig At Mickey Arthur Was His ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ Remark
Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer has slammed Pakistan’s team director Mickey Arthur for his comments after ODI World Cup 2023’s marquee clash. Jaffer took to Twitter to call out the coach and asked him about the Pakistan team’s home results against Australia and England.
“I wondered why Pakistan lost home series vs both Aus and Eng, but thanks to Micky Arthur now I know it was because stadium DJ didn’t play ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ enough and majority of fans were wearing blue jerseys :)” Jaffer wrote on X.
I wondered why Pakistan lost home series vs both Aus and Eng, but thanks to Micky Arthur now I know it was because stadium DJ didn't play 'Dil Dil Pakistan' enough and majority of fans were wearing blue jerseys 🙂 #INDvPAK #CWC2023 pic.twitter.com/sYpWovziYF
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) October 15, 2023
Jaffer found support from former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram, who spoke on the issue as well and called Arthur’s comments bizarre.
“I don’t know what to make of this statement. Tell us what your plans were against Kuldeep Yadav, that’s what we want to hear, not just random stuff. You think you can get away with this? You can’t, unfortunately,” an angry Akram said after the match.
Pakistan will square up against Australia on Friday (Oct 20) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.