PAK Vs ENG: Mickey Arthur Comes Up With Another Ridiculous Statement, Seeks 'Divine Help' Like 'Qudrat Ka Nizam' For Pakistan's Semi Final Qualification

Pakistan’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign came back on track with two back-to-back wins against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively. Fakhar Zaman who made a comeback in the team led the charge scoring a blistering 81 and 126 respectively against Bangladesh and the Kiwis.

Pakistan currently stands at the fifth position on the World Cup points table. They have secured eight points in as many matches and now are in a tough situation to qualify for the Semi-Finals. Pakistan not only needs to beat England but they have to hope that New Zealand lose their match against Sri Lanka which is not looking very happening given Sri Lanka’s form in this tournament.

One thing that is in favor of Pakistan is that their match against England is after New Zealand’s match against Sri Lanka. This means that Pakistan will have an exact equation on how big the margin of victory should be against England in order to reach the semi-finals.

Afghanistan also have a chance to edge out Pakistan but they have to beat the likes of Australia and South Africa. This is going to be a very difficult challenge for Afghanistan given South Africa and Australia are in the second and third position respectively.

“Who knows how we are going to go in this competition, I have a real feeling we’re going to get to the semi-finals but let’s see what happens. What we do know is that it will be in our hands come Saturday,” said Arthur, who is in his second stint in charge of Pakistan after a spell between 2016 and 2019.

“With a little bit of divine help, we can get to the semi-final but we have to play well. We played the perfect game once, I think, and that was against Bangladesh.”

If Pakistan qualifies for the semi-finals, they will face arch-rivals India in a mouth-watering clash at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 16th November. It was pre-determined that no matter in which position Pakistan finishes if they qualify for the semi-finals, they will play their match at Eden Gardens.

Mickey Arthur hailed the match-winning displays of Fakhar Zaman who was the man of the match in Pakistan’s win against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively.

Mickey Arthur Praises Fakhar Zaman For A Brilliant Comeback

“Since Fakhar has come in he has just been unbelievable. Sometimes in campaigns like this, it takes something to just ignite it and Fakhar certainly ignited that for us,” said Arthur of the 33-year-old left-hander.

“We know when he plays well he is exceptional. I have always been a massive backer of Fakhar because I think he can change games.”

Pakistan was chasing a massive target of 402 when Fakhar Zaman took charge. Zaman scored a blistering 126 off 81 balls taking his team to a total of 200/1 when rain stopped the play. Pakistan was ahead by 21 runs on the DLS target and eventually won the match against the Kiwis.

Fakhar Zaman hit 11 sixes and eight boundaries in his innings which saw him completing his 11th ODI hundred. This was also his first hundred in ODI World Cup matches.

“Obviously, Fakhar coming into the side breathed a new lease of life into us. It was tough not having him at the start. His form coming into the competition was a little bit patchy.”

Fakhar Zaman could manage just 65 runs in four Asia Cup matches and a meager 12 against the Netherlands in the World Cup before he was benched. He then had a recurrence of a knee injury that forced him to withdraw mid-way through last year’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.

“He (Zaman) changes games whenever he bats, the longer he bats the more dominant we become,” said Arthur. “So, it is really important for us that we keep Fakhar in this type of form and it’s really important that he takes this form and aggression and precision with his batting into the game against England.”

“Let’s hope we are saving ourselves for a batting, bowling and fielding performance against England, and then what will be, will be.”

Mickey Arthur said that Pakistan have to bring their A game against England, even though England have won just one match in this World Cup and currently sits in the last position in the points table. The defending champions are not having an auspicious World Cup at all.