Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur expressed his discontent with the organisation of the India vs. Pakistan ICC World Cup 2023 clash which was played in Ahmedabad on October 14, 2023.
India won the encounter one-sided by 7 wickets to make it 8-0 against Pakistan in the Cricket World Cups.
Pakistan was put into bat first by Rohit Sharma, who won the toss. Imam Ul Haq (36), Babar Azam (50), and Mohammad Rizwan (49) had taken Pakistan to 155/2 in 30 overs. But then Indian bowlers wreaked havoc as Pakistan was bowled out for 191 runs. Jasprit Bumrah starred with 2/19 in 7 overs. Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja picked two wickets as well.
Shubman Gill hammered 3 boundaries in one Hassan Ali over before falling for 16 runs. And Then Virat Kohli also got out for 16 runs. But captain Rohit Sharma decimated all Pakistan bowlers en route to 63-ball 86 runs with 6 fours and 6 sixes.
In the end, Shreyas Iyer (53*) and KL Rahul (19*) took India home in 30.3 overs to win by 7 wickets. With this win, India reached the top of the CWC 2023 points table with 6 points from 3 matches.
Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur was unhappy with the lack of support for the Men in Green in Ahmedabad. Babar Azam was heavily booed during the toss and Arthur complained about the songs played during the high-octane contest. He said that it seemed more of a BCCI event than an ICC event.
“Look, I'd be lying if I said... It didn't seem like an ICC event, tonight, to be brutally honest. It seemed like a bilateral series; it seemed like a BCCI event. I didn't hear Dil Dil Pakistan coming through the microphones too often tonight,” Mickey Arthur said.
”So yes, that does play a role, but I'm not going to use that as an excuse because for us, it was about living the moment, it was about the next ball and it was about how we were going to combat the Indian players tonight,”
On Saturday, all of them were partisan Indian supporters, thereby making the atmosphere even more intimidating for the visiting team, which has not played in Indian conditions for many years.
But Arthur also acknowledged that Pakistan was completely outplayed by a better team on the night. Meanwhile, he appreciated the Indian team for their performance.
"We were timid today, we didn't play The Pakistan Way against India. This Indian team is a very good cricket team. I think they're well-led by Rahul and Rohit. They look good and have all bases covered. I'm looking forward to meeting them in the final again," Arthur added.
Arthur also pointed out there is no need to worry about this loss since they have won the last two games.
He said: "It is a long World Cup, we've won two out of three matches, We will not panic and will focus on the next match with patience.”
(ICC inputs)
