Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur was left disappointed after India’s defeat to England in what was a must-win game for the hosts in the ongoing World Cup.
On June 30, England defeated India by 31 runs and kept theirhopes alive of making it to the semifinals.
“How they (India) played, again that’s the issue whichwe can’t control,” Arthur told reporters on Tuesday.
“Obviously, I was following the game intently and wasdisappointed that India did not get up because that would have opened the doorfor us.
“Now all we want is to get to Friday with a realopportunity and our destiny in our own hands,” he added.
Had India won against England, Pakistan would have then justneeded to win against Bangladesh to make it to the knockouts. However, now,they have to depend on the result of Wednesday’s match between England and NewZealand.
If the Three Lions defeat the Black Caps, then they wouldqualify for the semifinals and Pakistan will get knocked out of the tournament.
However, all the Pakistani fans and the team would hope thatNew Zealand can recover from two straight defeats to beat England atChester-le-Street, which would open the door for the Green Brigade to reach thesemis by beating Bangladesh at Lord’s on Friday.
“I just hope New Zealand get it done for us,” saidArthur.
“If New Zealand don’t (win) then we hope England win bya big-enough margin and then we calculate what we have to do with our netrun-rate, which I think is probably too much,” he added.Earlier, former Pakistan cricketers Basit Aliand Sikander Bakht had alleged that the Men in Blue might intentionally lose toEngland to oust Pakistan from the tournament. Even former Pakistan captainWaqar Yunus had questioned India’s sportsmanship after a concentrated effort torally support for India among Pakistani fans on the social media by a number ofcelebrities.