‘Achaa Joke thaa’ – Fans react as Mickey Arthur feels Pakistan can still qualify for ODI World Cup 2023 semifinals despite their four back-to-back losses

The Pakistan Cricket Team suffered a narrow one-wicket loss against in-form South Africa on October 27 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai, in their sixth game of the ODI World Cup 2023. Notably, following the close loss, the Men in Green are on the verge of getting knocked out of the tournament. Babar Azam and Co. had a terrific start to their campaign, as they won against the Netherlands in their opening game and thrashed Sri Lanka in their second game.

However, following that, they suffered four back-to-back losses, which placed them in the sixth spot in the points table. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s team director, Mickey Arthur, addressed the loss of their side in a post-match conference. The former South African star accepted that they had failed to perform well in the tournament so far. In addition, the 55-year-old coach feels they failed with their batting as they could not cross over 300 runs despite the batting pitch in Chennai.

“To be brutally honest, we haven’t put together the perfect game yet. We haven’t batted well enough as a unit. The par score here on this pitch was 300. I thought we bowled really well, perhaps this was our best bowling performance even but we didn’t put together enough runs on the board. You have to have one of your top four sticking around at the 40-over mark. Our success over the past year stemmed from there,” Mickey Arthur said.

You never know Pakistan can still qualify for the Semi-Finals: Mickey Arthur

The Johannesburg-born cricketer was seen praising his bowlers for giving a tough fight to the in-form Proteas during the game. However, the former batting legend feels the Babar Azam-led Pakistan side can still qualify for the semifinals despite their four straight losses.

“Tonight I’m proud of the boys because they fought. We were below par with the bat but the bowlers were very good today, they gave it everything. You never know Pakistan can still qualify for the Semi Finals,” he added further.

Check out how fans have reacted to his statement:

Good joke

— Manish Bansal (@ManishB61307544) October 28, 2023

😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/88LQCajLj7

— Esha Srivastav🇮🇳🚩 (@EshaSanju15) October 28, 2023

Micky Arthur bhai simply doesn't want to be the next Bob wolmer 🤷🏻‍♂️

— ًTushar Karmarkar (@imTkarmarkar) October 28, 2023

He has single handedly ruined the Pakistan cricket.

— The CrickFun (@TheCrickFun) October 28, 2023

Pakistan be like pic.twitter.com/3ITjgCe17m

— King Kohli's Fan (@ViratFan100) October 28, 2023

Yes only if they rename Lahore airport to "Semifinals".

— *Roe Joot* (@ImGani22) October 28, 2023

Ye bhi unke sath reh kar imaginary wars jeetne lag gaya hai😂

— Cabinet Minister, Ministry of Memes,🇮🇳 (@memenist_) October 28, 2023