Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) director and head coach Mickey Arthur has said that while the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 encounter between India and Pakistan will be a marquee clash, it is certainly not the "be-all and end all" from a cricketing point of view.
India and Pakistan will clash in the upcoming CWC 2023 on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the largest stadium in the world.
Mickey Arthur had been appointed as the director of the Pakistan team and the head coach a couple of months back by the previous PCB committee led by Najam Sethi. He said that while he understands the hype surrounding the clash, for him, it will be like any other game where one would gain or lose two points.
"I don't think Pakistan and India are the be-all of the World Cup. From a fan's perspective, from the viewpoint of the emotions and relations between the two countries, one can understand the interest it generates and the emotions that go with it. But from a cricket point of view I think it will be about doing well against all teams if you want to win the World Cup,” Arthur told a Pakistani YouTube channel 'CricketBaaz'.
Arthur was intent on playing down the pressure quotient and has already started the mental games stating that pressure would be on India.
"The expectations from the Indian team will be very high in the World Cup. They are a good side and how well they perform will depend on their ability to absorb the pressure that will come from playing at home," he said.
He also talked about Pakistan asking for venue swaps for their World Cup matches against Afghanistan and Australia. As per Pakistani media reports, PCB had requested ICC and BCCI to switch the venues for these two particular matches as they didn’t want to play Afghanistan on the spin-friendly Chennai track and Australia on the batting-friendly Bengaluru surface.
"Yes, we discussed it but it was just a discussion. It was not as if our entire plans hinged on not playing Afghanistan in Chennai. Look, any team would want to play Afghanistan at some other venue,” he said.
He conceded that the impression generated by the news that Pakistan had asked for a switch in venues against Afghanistan and Australia didn't go down well and gave a negative feeling about the Pakistan team.
Mickey Arthur also confirmed that he had spoken to Najam Sethi about Babar Azam’s development as Pakistan captain amidst rumors of PCB wanting a change in captaincy.
"Babar is a matter of pride for me. The way he has developed as a world-class batsman and matured as a leader. Our entire new philosophy of playing cricket the 'The Pakistani Way' revolves around Babar. He is in total sync with me and the rest of the management that this is how we need to now play our cricket,” Arthur revealed.
"It is about everyone knowing that I and the rest of the management back Babar in whatever decision he takes and about everyone being there to watch each other's back. And it is also about obviously going all the way and not holding back on the field. Pakistan has immense talent and on its day it can beat any team anywhere," Arthur concluded by explaining the "Pakistani Way" of cricket.
(PTI inputs)
