Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur and Babar Azam during practice
Credit: Reuters Photo
Ahmedabad: Amid a sea of blue India tamed Pakistan by seven wickets to extend their winning streak against their neighbours in World Cup to 8-0 here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday. The support for India in a packed stadium was as lopsided as the result was with India chasing down Pakistan’s 191 all out with 117 balls to spare.
With the Indian authorities yet to issue visas to Pakistani fans, there was virtually no support for the tourists from the stands. There were no green-clad spectators waving Pakistan flags but the DJ ensured there were no Pakistani origin songs even when an Indian wicket fell or a Pakistani batter scored a boundary. The Pakistan camp wasn’t obviously amused at the treatment.
“It didn’t seem like an ICC event, I would be pretty honest,” said Mickey Arthur, Director of Pakistan cricket. “It seemed like a bilateral series, like a BCCI event. I didn’t hear ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ (a song that celebrates Pakistan and played at every ICC event) 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.”
When asked if he thought it was the right thing to do, Arthur refrained from commenting. “I don’t want to get fined just yet. I don’t want to get fined,” he quipped.
Pakistan head coach Grant Bradburn was equally disappointed, saying that they didn’t expect anything else.
“Naturally that was going to be the case,” Bradburn replied when asked about Arthur’s views.
“We are really sad that our supporters aren’t here, they would have loved to be here and 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.”