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Cricket Players'Don't come to India if you can't handle pressure': 2011 World Cup-winner hits back at Mickey Arthur, Pakistan
The outcome left many fuming but Pakistan cricket director Micky Arthur in particular was not at all impressed with the arrangements.
Babar Azam-led Pakistan has failed to live up to the expectations at the ongoing 50-over World Cup in India. The team kicked-off the campaign on a positive note and won the first two matches. However, they failed to keep the winning momentum intact and endured tough defeats in the previous two encounters.
Out of the two defeats one was against arch rivals India, a contest which witnessed one of the most dramatic collapse in the history of the World Cup. Pakistan, who looked poised at one stage with 155/2 on the board, failed to breach the 200-run mark. The team could only add 36 more to their total before losing their remaining eight wickets, thus leaving India with a modest 192-run target.
Riding on a brilliant 63-ball 86 by skipper Rohit Sharma and a half-century by Shreyas Iyer, India wrapped the run chase in 30.3 overs. The outcome left many fuming but Pakistan cricket director Micky Arthur in particular was not at all impressed with the arrangements.
Arthur didn't mince any words following the outcome and slammed BCCI for the lack of Pakistan support at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. "Look, I'd be lying if I said that 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,” said Arthur.
In addition, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also lodged a complaint to the ICC over the hostility of the crowd during the marquee clash.
Reacting to the same, India's 2011 World Cup-winner S Sreesanth launched a scathing attack on Pakistan. “See, you will get praise from the crowd if you do well and if you do poorly, you will get criticized. As a team, you need to be ready for both. Mahi bhai always has said to focus on process because the pressure will always be there. Don't come to India if you can't handle the pressure. Go back. As it is you're playing that way,” the ex-India speedster told Sportskeeda during an interaction.
Pakistan are currently placed fifth on the ten-team points table, and will met Afghanistan on Monday at Chepauk, Chennai. While Pakistan will head into the contest as favourites but Afghanistan's promising spin attack may lead to another upset in the showpiece event. Afghanistan had stunned defending champions England last week, their only win so far in the tournament.
