LONDON – Head coach Mickey Arthur has claimed Pakistan’s World Cup defeat against bitter rivals India was so painful that it left him wanting to “commit suicide”.
Pakistan suffered a bruising 89-run loss to India in Manchester on June 16, a result which sparked a furious backlash from their frustrated fans.
The defeat put Pakistan’s hopes of reaching the World Cup semi-finals in grave danger.
And, although they kept alive their slender last-four hopes by beating South Africa on Sunday, Arthur admitted the India loss left him feeling desperately low.
“Last Sunday, I wanted to commit suicide,” Arthur said.
“But it was, you know, it’s only one performance.
“It happens so quick. You lose a game; you lose another game; it’s a World Cup; media scrutiny; public expectation, and then you almost go into sort of survival mode. We’ve all been there.”
Arthur’s emotional comment may have been exaggerated to show how passionate he is about his job.
But some fans feel the South Africa-born coach’s words are in bad taste, given Pakistan’s former coach Bob Woolmer died of natural causes during the 2007 World Cup.
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Pakistan lifted Arthur’s spirits with an impressive 49-run win against South Africa at Lord’s.
They now need to win their remaining three matches and improve their inferior net run-rate to have a chance of finishing in the top four and advancing to the semi-finals.
Pakistan play New Zealand in Birmingham on Wednesday.
“We always keep telling our players, it’s one performance. Who is going to stimulate us today?” Arthur added.