'Look, to be brutally honest...': Pakistan's Mickey Arthur fumes after one-wicket defeat to South Africa

NEW DELHI: Pakistan's team director, Mickey Arthur, expressed his disappointment with the team's performance in the World Cup and emphasized the need for a perfect game where all departments collectively contribute following their narrow loss to South Africa.In the match held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Pakistan posted a below-par total of 270 runs. However, they made a valiant effort through their bowlers, only to lose the thrilling contest by one wicket.Arthur candidly admitted, "Look, to be brutally honest, we haven't put together the perfect game yet. I don't think we've batted well enough yet as a unit. I think that pitch, certainly par on that pitch is 300 at least. We haven't put together enough runs."He also pointed out the inconsistency in their performance, stating, "And then we haven't put together a bowling performance that goes with it. Tonight I thought was our best bowling performance of the competition. We bowled really well, but I still thought we were under par in terms of the runs that we had."Arthur recognized that the team's struggle is not due to a lack of effort but rather the lack of players in form, especially with the bat.Following Pakistan's fourth successive defeat in the tournament after two early wins, their chances of advancing to the knockout stages looked bleak. However, Arthur expressed determination and a commitment to making improvements.He mentioned, "You never know. What I do know is we need to go and assess combinations again, we need to have a look at the holes we have within our team."With matches against Bangladesh, New Zealand, and England on the horizon, Arthur highlighted the team's resolve, saying, "We need to start improving in a lot of areas, and we've got to go and finish this tournament with three victories. Every day we'll be trying and striving to do that."(With Reuters inputs)