India meeting looms on horizon as Pakistan eye early wins

Half an eye of some of the reporters is already on that crunch clash in Ahmedabad in a little over a week’s time, but Arthur is keen to ensure his Pakistan side have two wins on the board before focusing too much on the meeting with the tournament hosts.

“I just think it's going to be a great game, I can't wait for it, personally,” he said.

“Hopefully we've got two wins under the belt before we get to Ahmedabad, so we're not getting too far ahead of ourselves. But it's one date in my diary that I can't wait for.”

Pakistan begin their tournament against the two teams who reached the World Cup via the iCC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe.

But both Netherlands and Sri Lanka – who Pakistan face on Friday and Tuesday respectively – showed during that qualifying tournament that they have plenty of talent in their ranks, and will be no pushovers for the second-ranked ODI team in the world.

Returning to questions on his team’s third match of the tournament, Arthur acknowledged that Pakistan’s fixture against the World Cup hosts is going to be a huge moment.

Fast start the aim for Pakistan, Netherlands in Hyderabad

“Look, I can't talk about how the governments interact or politically. What I can talk about is the respect that the players have for each other from both teams, because I've seen the respect that we've had," Arthur said.

“We've had a wonderful reception so far in India. I'm pretty sure we'll get that around our games as well.

"The Indian public loves cricket, and they don't get to see the likes of Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan often. So, I think that's going to be part of the attraction. Whatever happens outside, that's above my pay grade.”