Mickey Arthur’s second tenure as the Pakistan cricket team’s director was not only disappointing but also a controversial one as he accepted this responsibility while working simultaneously with English county Derbyshire. After disappointing exit of Pakistan from the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, Mickey Arthur was replaced by former Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Hafeez but Arthur accepts that India vs Pakistan match of the WC 2023 was one of the toughest of his coaching career.
While speaking in an interview, he said that it was really very tough having no Pakistani support because one place from where the Pakistani team gets support is from the ground and hotel but here they got nothing. He added that though it was tough for the players yet they never complained despite the fact that environment in Ahmedabad was quite hostile for them. He added that the players tried their best to perform well but ultimately the support from the crowd plays an important role in motivating the players.
Talking about the reports which suggest that there was tension among the players and some scenes were created in the dressing room, Arthur said that outside noise with Pakistan is just incredible and a person just needs to go to Twitter feed and there are many controversial things to read which have no truth in them. He added that there is no use in giving attention to these things and what they knew was their game plan and the roles of each player in the team.
Many Pakistani former cricketers slammed Mickey Arthur for being an online coach as he also had the responsibility of Derbyshire at that time and Arthur responded to those allegations by saying that people who know him properly know that he doesn’t commit if he is not able to give his 100 percent. Mickey Arthur said that he was never an online coach as he employed the complete staff and he was in touch with them constantly and had the knowledge of what was happening everyday in Pakistani camp.
Mickey Arthur also stated that he accepted the second tenure with Pakistan just because of his good relations with the then PCB chairman Najam Sethi.
Mickey Arthur advocated that the PCB should implement a system which can be trusted by the players as presently there is no honest communication and he himself got frustrated seeing the players not getting proper chances. He added that if there is instability in the system, the players will go into self-protection mode and then they will play for themselves rather than for the country.
Tough days of the Pakistani cricket team haven’t ended as recently they went on Australia tour and the hosts whitewashed them by 3-0 in the test series.
