Dubai: Pakistan’s cricket team is going through a ‘confidence crisis’ right now, coach Mickey Arthur conceded after Sunday’s nine-wicket loss to India in the ongoing Asia Cup, calling it one of the side’s ‘worst performances’.
“We are not abandoning them. Yes, they are suffering a bit of confidence crisis at the moment. There is fear of failure in the dressing room. There is a bit reality check of where we are as a cricket team,” Arthur told reporters after Pakistan were beaten by India for the second successive time in the tournament here.
“In terms of worst performance, nine wickets have to be up there. India have very good players. If we give them an inch, they are going to make us pay and they did that,” he said.
Pakistan set India a target of 238 after another below-par batting show. India romped home in 39.3 overs with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan scoring hundreds.
“Our strike rates were not good enough with the bat. With the ball, we need to strike early against these guys. We had a couple of chances, we didn’t take them. When you get these guys chances on wickets like these, they dominate you,” Arthur said dissecting the loss. “We need to get into their middle order as quick as we can that’s when we can inflict most damage,” he added.