Pakistan’s Director of Cricket – Mickey Arthur feels that Pakistan players are at a slight disadvantage in India because they do not play in the Indian Premier League. Arthur, speaking in the pre-match press conference in Bengaluru said that Pakistan have had to adapt to new conditions rapidly in the ODI World Cup 2023.
The team faces New Zealand in a do-or-die match in the tournament on Saturday, 4 November. Pakistan have to win the match if they wish to make it to the semi-finals of the tournament. Asked about if Pakistan players not playing in the IPL has been a disadvantage, Arthur said that it was, but he was not going to make any excuses.
“No excuse, but it has been. And the interesting thing has been that every ground we’ve been to has been a new venue for our players, which is exciting. The players have really embraced that and they’ve enjoyed that fact because they’ve watched IPL on TV and they’ve seen test matches at iconic grounds like Eden Gardens, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai. So, for them to play it, it’s been really exciting for them,” Arthur said ahead of their match against New Zealand.
“Of course, it is the first time they’re playing there, so it has taken a little bit to get used to the conditions,” he further added.
According to Arthur, Pakistan have not played to their potential yet in the tournament. The former first-class cricketer argued that Pakistan had their first complete game while playing against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens on October 31.
“Every game we go into, we want to win. And I’ll be brutally honest, I don’t think we’ve played to our full potential this tournament yet. I thought the Bangladesh game is the first game where we actually put a complete game together. We batted beautifully, bowled beautifully, and fielded beautifully, which in all the other games, we’ve done one or two disciplines OK, but our other disciplines let us down,” Arthur said.
“So, I’d like to say we’re peaking, but the preparation of the guys and the attitude of the guys’ will to get better every day, that has been exceptional. So, I can’t fault anybody in terms of that. But we found our best game against Bangladesh and I just hope that’s not too late for us,” the coach concluded on the matter.
