Pakistan’s former team director Mickey Arthur admitted that the ODI World Cup match against India in Ahmedabad was one of the most difficult moments during his tenure, as he led the team through a hostile environment. Arthur moved on after Pakistan failed to reach the semifinals of the showpiece event last year, while former all-rounder Mohammed Hafeez replaced him in the role.

“It was extremely tough not having any Pakistan support. The one thing that really drives the Pakistan team is the incredible support they receive at grounds and hotels. Here we never had that, and that was quite tough in a World Cup, particularly for the players,” Arthur was quoted as saying by the Wisden.

“As you can imagine it was a tough, hostile environment in Ahmedabad. But we were expecting this, and to their credit our players never moaned or complained once. They cracked on and tried their best – nevertheless it ultimately does play a role in motivation when you can’t see or hear that support base around you,” he added.

Pakistan’s World Cup campaign was marred as usual by high-level off-field turbulence, including reports of dressing room discord and leaked WhatsApp conversations from then-captain Babar Azam. However, Arthur claimed that all of the outside commotions had little impact on the team.

“The outside noise with Pakistan is incredible, you just have to check your Twitter feed to see so many fires that are ignited out there, that have absolutely no truth attached to them. You end up – and I found this out the first time – you’re just constantly extinguishing those fires and chasing your tail. What we knew within our team was our game plan, and the defined roles that the players had, and we cracked on with it. There were unequivocally no massive disagreements with the players,” Arthur added.

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