Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur’s bizarre and controversial comments about the atmosphere and layout of the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad after his team’s disastrous defeat to India in the 2023 World Cup have not gone down well with the cricket fraternity. Ta. Apart from being ridiculed by former Indian cricketers, Pakistan cricket legends also slammed Arthur’s comments. On Monday, the ICC responded to Arthur’s criticism.
After suffering their eighth World Cup defeat against a record-tying India against a single opponent, Arthur complained about the partisan crowd and the lack of Pakistani music being played at the venue, saying, “It’s better than the ICC.” It felt like a BCCI event. Fans from Pakistan were not issued visas to travel to India for the World Cup, and the few visitors were residents of various countries.
“Look, I’d be lying if I said that. [not affect us]” Arthur said after the game. “To be brutally honest, it didn’t feel like an ICC event. It looked like a bilateral series. More like a BCCI event.”
In fact, Arthur was not the only member of the Pakistan support staff who was dissatisfied with the atmosphere in Ahmedabad. Pakistan coach Grand Bradburn also felt that the situation was heavily tilted towards hosts India.
“It’s really disappointing that our supporters aren’t here. They will be happy to be here and I’m sure Indian cricket fans will love our supporters here as well.” It was certainly unusual in that sense, with no music that is familiar to us today. So to be honest, it didn’t feel like a World Cup match. I didn’t expect anything else. We loved this opportunity so much and we are disappointed that we could not do justice to this opportunity and to our many fans at home and abroad.” he said after defeating Pakistan by seven wickets.
ICC reacts to Pakistan coaches’ comments on ‘BCCI event’
ICC president Greg Barkley was asked to comment on Arthur’s bizarre comments, but he downplayed them as just criticisms that face every World Cup.
“There’s always criticism from different quarters for every event we host,” Barclay said on the sidelines of the International Olympic Committee general meeting in Mumbai, where the inclusion of T20 cricket in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics was voted on. He was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
“Maybe the things we take away and work on and try to make better…so this event is unique.” [at] start. Let’s see how the whole thing goes, and then we go away and look at what could change, what could be improved, how could we improve the service around the World Cup and cricket in general. Masu.
“We’re going to take things as they unfold and get through to the end of the event. We’re still happy that it’s going to be a great World Cup.”
Although Pakistan lost, they maintained their 4th place in the point rankings with 2 wins and 1 loss from 3 games. They had previously won against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. Their next match will be in Bangalore on October 20th against Australia, who finally got their opening match back on track by defeating Sri Lanka.
