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'Did SL complain when Hyderabad chanted ‘PAK jeetega’?': Ex-IND cricketers blast Mickey Arthur's 'BCCI event' remark
The bizarre comment did not go down well with former India cricketers who ridiculed Arthur.
A sea of blue had taken over Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, and rightly so with Pakistan fans yet to receive visas to travel to India for the World Cup. Hence, the mood of more than one lakh spectators were dictated completely by the proceedings in the match with decibel level being at its lowest when Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan looked to re-build Pakistan's innings and was at its highest for the remainder of the game. And Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan team director, admitted that it did affect the visitors in yet another lopsided World Cup encounter. The bizarre comment however did not go down well with former India cricketers who ridiculed Arthur.
"Look, I'd be lying if I said it did [not affect us]," Arthur said in response to a query on the partisan crowd. "It didn't seem like an ICC event 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.
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"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."
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer, mocking Arthur's bizarre claim, said whether it was the very reason behind Pakistan losing their home series to both Australia and England earlier this season
"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.
Aakash Chopra meanwhile gave Arthur a hard reminder on whether Sri Lanka team complained when Hyderabad fans cheered for Pakistan during their World Cup game last week.
"DJ wale babu mera gana baja do…I mean seriously???? Did we hear Sri Lanka complain about the fact that the Hyderabad crowd was chanting ‘Pakistan Jeetega'?? I'll be genuinely surprised if the DJ at Narendra Modi Stadium played ‘Dil Dil Pakistan' even once today," he posted on X.
Pakistan were folded for just 191 runs after being put to bat first before fifties from Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer saw India chase down the target with 117 balls to spare.
