Head coach of the national cricket team, Mickey Arthur, has said Pakistan’s defeat against arch-rivals India was so painful that it left him “wanting to commit suicide”, Khaleej Times reported.
“Last Sunday I wanted to commit suicide. But it was, you know, only one performance,” he was quoted as saying.
Pakistan faced a humiliating 89-run defeat against India in Manchester on June 16, a result which sparked a furious backlash as the country’s hopes of reaching the World Cup semi-finals were put in grave danger.
“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 said.
While the head coach’s emotional comment may have been exaggerated to show how passionate he is about his job, some believed it was in bad taste considering former coach Bob Woolmer’s sudden death after Pakistan suffered a bruising defeat against Ireland during the 2007 World Cup.
Pakistan lifted Arthur’s spirits with an impressive 49-run win against South Africa at Lord’s on Sunday. They now need to win their remaining three matches and improve their inferior net run-rate to have a chance of advancing to the semi-finals.
Pakistan play New Zealand in Birmingham on Wednesday.
