Mickey Arthur: Being under 'massive amount of security' tough on Pakistan

Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan team director, has likened the extensive security ring and life around it as a throwback to "Covid times". He spoke of the mental toll it can take on the players but isn't using that as an excuse for their blow-hot-blow-cold performance so far at the 2023 men's World Cup.

"As a Pakistan team, we play a hell of a lot of cricket, so being on the road is nothing new for these guys. What has been tough is the fact that we've been under a massive amount of security," Arthur said ahead of Saturday's fixture against New Zealand in Bengaluru.

"So, I've sort of taken it back. And to be fair, I've found it difficult. It's almost like we've been back in the Covid times, where you were almost secluded to your floor and your team room. So much so that their breakfast is in a separate room to everybody else. So, it's almost, that's been the tough aspect."

Arthur didn't stop there. He elaborated further on the "quite stifling" feeling of being restricted in their movements. While much of these security arrangements have been in adherence to protocols set by the ICC, it's undeniable that Pakistan have had an extra layer of security whenever they've travelled.

"The aspect about being on the road is, our boys are used to it," Arthur elaborated. "But when they're on the road, they've still been able to get out and go and have meals, etc at different places, and get out on their own accord, which we haven't been able to do this time. And that's been tough. That has been quite stifling."

Does this affect the players?

"It certainly does. It definitely does," Arthur said. "And I've seen it with some players where it has been, you wake up again and it's like Groundhog Day. It's exactly the same. You have breakfast and if it's a non-training day, you're back to your room.

"We've tried to have sort of little fun team events and whatever within our team room. But you know, there's only so much you can recreate. I think the guys have been out three times - we've managed to do that with security, get them out to a different restaurant or whatever, just to give them a little bit of a taste of the outside world."

In saying that, Arthur was merely presenting a picture of the circumstances they're faced with. He underlined how they've embraced the situation in the best possible way, while being optimistic about a turnaround in fortunes.

That turnaround looked unlikely last week when they were heartbreakingly confined to a one-wicket loss by South Africa in Chennai, but their own win over Bangladesh and South Africa's "favour" to them by beating New Zealand has thrown the door open for a "typical Pakistan comeback."

"Yeah, everybody tells me it's the classic World Cup campaign," Arthur said with a laugh. "And I hate that, because I'd rather, that we were cruising now and things had been really good, it would certainly be a lot less stressful.

"But again, we got ourselves into a position before the Bangladesh game, where it was kind of out of our hands and it's come back in a funny way into our hands again because albeit we've got to win and win big in both our games, it's still in our control, which it wasn't before the Bangladesh game. We had obviously a really good result there. And then South Africa did us a little bit of a favour as well."

Arthur accepted while forcing their way back in was still "a long shot", the group still resonated a lot of calmness.

"We actually spoke about it as a group yesterday in our one-on-one skill meetings," he said. "The one thing that amazes me, and it's amazed me so much with the Pakistan players, is generally how calm they are.

"You know, it's like, I'm a cat on a hot tin roof, the players are just really calm. They kind of take it in their stride. And that's the feeling I got before the Bangladesh game. And it's certainly the feeling I'm getting right now. So, yeah, we're in a decent place."

Are Pakistan thinking of margins? As things stand, they are behind New Zealand on net run rate. While a win on Saturday will help, they will go into their final group game against England with an equation in front of them, if New Zealand beat Sri Lanka two days earlier. The only way Pakistan can then nudge New Zealand out of the semi-finals is on net run rate.

"Yeah, look, of course it is," Arthur responded when asked about the importance of keeping an eye on net run rates. "During the Calcutta chase, I had every scenario in my pocket as to if we won in 25 overs, if we won in 26 overs, 27 overs. So, we kind of knew as to how we were going to eat into the net run rate of particularly New Zealand. What I didn't factor into was South Africa doing us a favour the next night. So, we do have all those scenarios.

"Of course, we have those scenarios. I think the first thing for us, though, is we've got to respect our position. New Zealand are a very, very good team. I think they're very well-coached. I think they're very well-led. I think they're a very experienced cricket team. We've got to respect it. And once we get ourselves in a position, only then can we start talking about those net run rates.

"Now, I'll have all the information, but I won't necessarily give it to the players until we feel the time is right to put the foot down and potentially try and close that net run rate because we've still got to win the game as well."