“IND vs PAK seemed like a BCCI and not an ICC event” – Pakistan crew director Mickey Arthur

The streets of Ahmedabad had been a sea of blue as spectators donning India colors turned up for the marquee ODI World Cup fixture in opposition to Pakistan on the 1,32,000-seater Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday.

With only a handful of Pakistani followers and media personnel permitted to attend essentially the most anticipated fixture of the event, the house crew loved the utmost crowd assist because it pulled off a convincing seven-wicket victory over its archrival.

However, sitting within the opponent’s dressing room, Pakistan crew director Mickey Arthur felt that it was extra like a bilateral collection. “It didn’t seem like an ICC event, to be pretty honest. It seemed like a bilateral series, like a BCCI event,” Arthur mentioned after the match.

Usually, in each ICC occasion, followers from throughout the border flip up in massive numbers to cheer for his or her crew. But it was completely completely different this time round. “I didn’t hear ‘ Dil Dil Pakistan’ coming through the microphones too often. That does play a role, but I am not using that as an excuse because for us, it was about living in the moment, about the next ball, and about how we would combat the Indian players tonight,” Arthur mentioned.

READ: India’s Siraj focuses on mantra of ‘adapt and perform’, refuses to hype win in opposition to Pakistan

Asked whether or not followers ought to have been granted a visa for the big-ticket occasion, Arthur mentioned with a sheepish smile, “I don’t want to get fined just yet. I don’t want to get fined…”

Echoing comparable sentiments, the crew’s head coach Grant Bradburn, mentioned, “We are really sad that our supporters aren’t here, they would have loved to be here. I am sure Indian cricket fans would love our supporters here as well. It was certainly unusual in that way, no familiar music for us today. So it did not feel like a World Cup game, honestly…”

“We didn’t expect anything else. We love the occasion, and we are disappointed that we did not do justice to the occasion or justice to our many fans at home and globally,” the coach mentioned.

With a dominating efficiency, India prolonged its unbeaten streak to 8-0 within the World Cup, however Arthur harassed that there was no want for his crew to press the panic button simply but. “We are two from three (in terms of wins). So, we’re certainly not panicking yet. We’ll go back and analyse this game to the nth degree. We’ll have conversations about how we want to go forward. Australia is our next game, we’ll have conversations about them. We’ll look at conditions, and we’ll make selection decisions based on our strategy and conditions for the next game,” he mentioned.

From cruising at 155 for two, the Pakistan middle-order collapsed and was bundled out for 191. While Arthur promised to repair the errors, he was in no temper guilty anybody. “I just think we were a little timid tonight with our approach. I would’ve liked us to take the game on a little bit more. It’s a massive occasion, as we know. I think we just went into our shells a little bit. To go from 155 for two to 191 all out is just not on. Yes, credit to India; I thought they bowled really well, but I thought our performance was just a little timid,” he mentioned, making it clear that he wasn’t pondering of a serious shake-up.

ALSO READ: Kane Williamson: The New Zealand star who must shine regardless of harm setback

“They’re classy performers. They’ve done it day in and day out for Pakistan over an extended period of time. So, I’m not going to sit here and castigate them for that. I thought we were a little timid. I did think that we could’ve taken on the Indian spinners just a little bit more,” Arthur mentioned, referring to the performances by Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.

“It was a wicket that didn’t turn massively. I thought we needed to put some pressure back (on India). But again, they (India) were building (pressure) and building nicely. I think we’ve got to realise that there are two ways to skin a cat. We have had success by taking it deep and then cashing in at the back end. That’s been our style. We didn’t play the Pakistan way tonight, and that was the disappointing aspect of it.”

Pakistan performs Australia subsequent in Bengaluru on October 20.