Whatmore sees hope for future as Pakistan humbled

India's Ravindra Jadeja during the ICC Champions Trophy match at Edgbaston, Birmingham

They failed to score more than 170 in any of their group matches and having been bowled out for 165 on Saturday by arch-rivals India, they then lost by eight wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-affected affair at Edgbaston.

It was only the second time Pakistan have ended an ICC tournament without winning a match, the first was in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1998.

However, Whatmore insisted there was no underlying problem and while he admitted they had not scored anywhere near enough runs, he believes their time in England should be taken in isolation.

“In this series it hasn’t been good but you don’t always have good series,” he said.

“We thought we had a decent build-up but it wasn’t to be.

“These things happen. There were some reasons for that but I am sure there will be every effort to put it right next time.

“Let’s not be emotional about this. Games are won and lost. I don’t get carried away too much.

“It would’ve been nice to have a few more runs. It is okay to sit there and criticise but we are trying to be objective and if you lose wickets up front it is difficult to set a good target or chase one.”

Whatmore said things went downhill after their narrow two-wicket opening defeat to West Indies.

“The one which sticks in my mind is the first one,” he added.

“We nearly pulled off a terrific win but since that game we have been a bit naughty, particularly with the bat.

“But this is almost the same team which beat India in India 2-1. One bad series doesn’t make a bad team.

“It is easy to be critical on the surface but from our point of view we are looking to be objective and improve things.

“It is nice to know our bowling attack is young. Our pace attack wouldn’t have played more than 60 ODIs and we’d love to turn the clock forward a year. The fielding has been improving but you don’t have to be Einstein to know we didn’t score enough runs.”

Man of the match Bhuvneshwar Kumar set the tone in the morning by bowling two maidens in his first three overs and finishing with 2-19.

The Indian seamer said he was relishing bowling in English conditions.

“I am pretty much enjoying it because the ball is swinging in England,” he said.

“It didn’t swing as much as in India but there is more bounce in the wicket.”

India go into the semi-finals as favourites after three successive victories and Kumar knows they have to maintain their high standards.

“This is a big tournament and everyone is looking to win it,” he added.