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Arthur thrilled with Pakistan resolve after 'shambolic' India showing

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur

Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has paid tribute to his players for the way they bounced back from a desperate defeat to India to reach the ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals.

Arthur's side were hammered by 124 runs at the hands of their fierce rivals in their tournament opener nine days ago, but recovered impressively to win their final two Group B encounters against South Africa and Sri Lanka.

The latter, a three-wicket win on Monday having fallen to 162-7 chasing 237, was particular evidence of what Arthur pointed to as the commendable progress made by his squad in such a short space of time.

"We were written off totally, and probably rightly so, after the Indian clash because we were shambolic. We were terrible," he said in Tuesday's media conference ahead of a last-four meeting with hosts and favourites England in Cardiff.

"It's just shown the resolve the players have had and certainly the belief that myself as coach have had in our boys.

"I'm incredibly proud of how we pulled ourselves off the canvas after India, and I'm incredibly proud of some of the honest discussions we've had as a unit and as a team because that for me has shown maturity, maturity beyond the years of the team, and that stands us in good stead going forward.

"I've always said, when you can sit in a dressing room and have the mature conversations, your team is evolving.

"A year ago, we could not have mature conversations in the dressing room. We're now having mature conversations where players are looking at their performance and judging themselves without fear of any recrimination.

"I think, when you can do that, the team is in a good place. And we had a couple of those after the Indian game."

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