It seems like the ongoing controversy created by former Pakistani cricketers, who are claiming that India deliberately lost the World Cup encounter against arch-rivals to make it difficult for them to reach semis, is not going to end soon.
It all started when England all-rounder Ben Stokes, in his autobiography ‘On Fire’, mentioned that he was perplexed by India’s approach in the match against them. Chasing a 338-run target, India fell short by 31 runs.
After Stokes’ remark, recently former-Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq went on to say, “There is no doubt that India lost on purpose. I had told this at that time as well. In fact, everyone else opined the same. For a person [Dhoni] who can hit fours and sixes at will, he was blocking everything…Hence, one tends to know.”
But Razzaq’s comments have not gone down well with ex-India opener Aakash Chopra. In his latest Youtube video, he said, “I am wearing a T-shirt which says Sharam (shame) not found. Think a little and have some shame. Waqar Younis, despite being the brand ambassador for the ICC, gave a statement during the World Cup that India threw the match away on purpose. I mean seriously,” said Chopra.
It's not who you are.. What you do in life defines who you are.. Me not bothered if Pakistan gets to the semis or not but one thing is for sure.. Sportsmanship of few Champions got tested and they failed badly #INDvsEND #CWC2019
— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) June 30, 2019
“It is understandable if the partnership between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma didn’t make sense to Stokes or if he was confused by Dhoni’s approach towards the end. But he never said that India deliberately lost the match.”
The Delhi-lad further added that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should fine Pakistani cricketers for making such remarks. “Former Pakistani cricketers are openly saying that India lost deliberately and ICC should fine them. How can you think like that? It was more important for India to top the group at that time. India only lost one game in the group stages and that happened to be that game against England,” Chopra concluded.
