Mickey Arthur was disappointed with the approach of the Pakistan batters during their loss against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad today (October 14).

Pakistan succumbed to their eighth defeat against India in men’s ODI World Cups as they lost by seven wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Being put into bat after losing the toss, Pakistan seemed set to stack up a big total before a whirlwind collapse saw them get bowled out for less than 200.

At various stages of their innings, Pakistan would have felt confident of more. They were 41-0 within eight overs, 73-1 inside 13 overs and 155-2 within 30 overs. However, the wicket of Babar Azam, the third of the innings, set off an alarming collapse of eight wickets for 36 runs, with Pakistan eventually bowled out for 191.

Arthur, the Pakistan head coach, was honest in his assessment of Pakistan’s approach with the bat. Arthur felt that Pakistan could have gone harder, especially during the partnership between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.

“Yeah, I just think we were a little bit timid tonight with our overall performance. I would have liked us to really take the game on just a little bit more,” said Arthur. “It’s a massive occasion, as we know, but I think we just went into our shells just a little bit. And to go from 155 for two, if it was, to 190-odd all out is just not on. Yeah, credit to India, I thought they bowled really well, but I just thought our performance was just a little bit timid.”

Rizwan and Babar added 82 runs in 103 balls for the third wicket, hitting no sixes during their partnership. Arthur elaborated on how Pakistan have always favoured the ‘take it deep’ approach, justifying the Babar-Rizwan partnership in the process, but felt that they could have attacked the Indian spinners a bit more.

“Look, they’re classy performers and they’ve done it day in and day out for Pakistan over an extended period of time. So, I’m not going to sit here and castigate them for that,” said Arthur.

“As I said, I thought we were a little bit timid. I did think we could probably have taken on the Indian spinners just a little bit more. It was a wicket that didn’t turn massively, and I thought we needed to put some pressure back.

“But again, they were building and building nicely. I think we’ve got to realize that there are two ways to skin a cat.

“And we’ve had success by taking it deep and then cashing in at the back end. That’s been our style, that’s been our brand, but we didn’t play the Pakistan Way tonight, and that was the disappointing aspect of it for me.”

Pakistan’s next game is against Australia in Bengaluru on October 20. A smaller ground known for producing high scores, Pakistan might need to come out with a bit more intent at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

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