"Almost like we've been back in the Covid times" - Mickey Arthur on heavy security for Pakistan team in 2023 World Cup
Pakistan men's team's director Mickey Arthur has stated that he feels like having returned to the COVID-19 era due to the heavy security for the team in the 2023 World Cup. The former head coach revealed that the restrictions extend to having breakfast in their own separate rooms, which has been tough.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday in Bengaluru, Arthur underlined that being on the road is nothing new for players, but living under massive security and restrictions has been. He elaborated, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
"As a Pakistan team, we play a hell of a lot of cricket, so being on the road is nothing new for these guys. What has been tough is the fact that we've been under a massive amount of security. So, I've sort of taken it back.
"And to be fair, I've found it difficult. It's almost like we've been back in the Covid times, where you were almost secluded to your floor and your team room. So much so that their breakfast is in a separate room to everybody else. So, it's almost, that's been the tough aspect."
Pakistan arrived in Hyderabad on September 27 to a rousing reception at the airport. Babar Azam and co. have notably also been to restaurants in Hyderabad to feast on Biryani and were happily greeted by fans.
"It's still in our control" - Mickey Arthur on Pakistan's semi-final fate
Arthur observed that Pakistan did well to defeat Bangladesh in Kolkata, thereby putting their fate in their own hands. However, the 55-year-old equally acknowledged South Africa doing them a favor by beating New Zealand.
He said:
"Yeah, everybody tells me it's the classic World Cup campaign. And I hate that, because I'd rather, that we were cruising now and things had been really good, it would certainly be a lot less stressful. But again, we got ourselves into a position before the Bangladesh game, where it was kind of out of our hands and it's come back in a funny way into our hands again because albeit we've got to win and win big in both our games, it's still in our control, which it wasn't before the Bangladesh game.
"We had obviously a really good result there. And then South Africa did us a little bit of a favor as well."
A win for Pakistan against New Zealand on Saturday (November 4) will significantly boost their semi-final prospects.