Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur wanted to commit suicide after India loss

Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur was clutching at straws along with his team in the crucial clash against South Africa at Lord’s on Sunday. Another loss in that game and an early exit from the World Cup would have imploded Pakistan cricket big time. However, the former champions came up with a robust performance to beat South Africa by 49 runs to survive another day in the tournament. Pakistan have three games left in the competition and would have to win all to reach the semi-finals.

South African-born Arthur has come under a lot of criticism after Pakistan were handed a crushing defeat by arch-rivals India exactly a week ago at Old Trafford. Choosing to bowl first after winning the toss on that occasion, Pakistan allowed India to build a big total of 336 for 5 and then faced a pathetic batting display despite a promising start. Sarfaraz Ahmed’s side lost that game by 89 runs via DLS rule and the 51-year-old Arthur said he wanted to commit suicide.

Arthur’s foreign origins came under scanner after India loss

There were already talks over the head coach’s foreign origins after the Old Trafford loss and reports that the entire team management would be sacked once the tournament ends. Pakistan have been in a pressure-cooker situation for some months now, winning only two out of their last 17 matches. Each win that the team gathers from here on gives that much relief for the under-pressure Arthur.

“It happens so quick. You lose a game, you lose another game. It’s a World Cup. [There’s] media scrutiny, public expectations and then you almost go into survival mode. We’ve all been there,” Arthur said after the match on Sunday.

“Last Sunday I wanted to commit suicide, but it’s only one performance. We always keep telling our players it’s one performance, who’s going to stimulate us today. I thought for us the way Fakhar (Zaman) and Imam (Ul-Haq) went out and got us a start, that sort of quietened the nerves down a little bit.”

Both Imam and Fakhar scored 44 runs to give Pakistan a good start with 81 runs for the first wicket. Later, Babar Azam (69) and Haris Sohail (89) built on the foundation to power Pakistan to 308 for 7 in 50 overs. South Africa never looked threatening to overhaul the target and could manage only 259 for 9 in 50 overs to bow out of the tournament.

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It may be mentioned here that one Pakistan coach has already lost his life during a World Cup when Bob Woolmer, also a former SA coach, was found dead at his hotel room under mysterious conditions after the team did poorly in the 2007 edition.