Witch-Hunt
CHENNAI: On Friday, Pakistan cricket team’s director, Mickey Arthur, defended the players and the management during a post-match press conference after the South Africa match. He termed the criticism directed towards skipper Babar Azam and chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq as “unfair.”
Arthur lamented the blame game that appeared to have started back home following the poor performance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Pakistan’s team, known as the “Men in Green,” suffered four consecutive losses in the 10-team tournament, marking the first time in World Cup history.
Amidst the criticism, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) distanced itself from selection matters, stating that “Captain Babar Azam and chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq were given freedom and support in forming the squad for the ICC World Cup 2023.”
Responding to questions about the backlash, Arthur defended the players and the management staff, stating, “It’s really unfair to start a witch hunt, certainly on Babar Azam, on Inzi, on our coaches, on the management team. What I do know is that the boys have tried, and the effort of the coaching staff, the effort of the players has been first-class.”
However, Arthur acknowledged that the players hadn’t performed as they should have and admitted, “Yeah, look to be brutally honest, we haven’t put together the perfect game yet. I don’t think we’ve batted well enough yet as a unit.”
Regarding the team’s batting performance, he mentioned, “I think that pitch, certainly par on that pitch, is 300 at least,” expressing his disappointment that Pakistan’s batting couldn’t put enough runs on the board against South Africa.
Reflecting on the team’s gradual decline from the top ranking, Arthur recognized the need for improvement and said, “Yeah, look, I think at a World Cup, you’ve got to be playing your best game at the right time. Our form had sort of drifted off a little bit.”
Despite the loss against South Africa, Arthur expressed his pride in the team’s effort, stating, “It’s a really disappointed dressing room, and our players, I know, can be proud of tonight because they’ve given it their best shot. And that’s all you can ask.”
When questioned about the team’s prospects for reaching the semi-finals, Arthur remained cautiously optimistic and said, “You never know. What I do know is that we need to go and assess combinations again. We need to have a look at the holes we have within our team. We need to start improving in many areas, and we’ve got to go home and finish this tournament with three victories.”
Arthur also addressed the batting concerns, emphasizing the importance of converting good starts into substantial scores, stating, “We’ve had players get in. We’ve had players get started. We haven’t had players go through it. And I thought, I don’t think we managed the last five overs particularly well tonight.”
