England’s world-cup winning all-rounder Ben Stokes’ autobiography ‘Ben Stokes on Fire’, opened a brand new can of worms in Pakistan. The cricketing fraternity in Pakistan claims that India lost to England in the group-stage encounter of 2019 World Cup, purposely to eliminate their arch-rivals from the tournament.
After India’s loss to England, former Pakistan Sikander Bhakt opined about India deliberately going defensive against England to eliminate the ‘Men in Green’ from the coveted tournament.
It was only recently, when former Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who was part of the West Indies squad in the World Cup as a spin consultant, backed Bisht by revealing the likes of Jason Holder, Andre Russell and Chris Gayle suggesting the same.
During a recent interaction, former Pakistan all-rounder, Abdul Razzaq joined the bandwagon, affirming that strict action must be taken from ICC, for teams deliberately losing fixtures in multilateral tournaments.
Razzaq also questioned India’s tactics with the bowl, letting the English team off guard, despite picking up wickets after initial onslaught from the openers.
“We were watching the match, we all felt the same. I also think ICC should put a fine on this. If any team loses a match intentionally to make sure a team does not qualify, then the team should be fined for this. If a quality bowler is not trying to bowl according to his standards, not giving a good line and length, and bowling full length, and giving away runs, then it comes to notice,” Razzaq told ARY news.
Also, Razzaq questioned MS Dhoni’s approach by saying that a batter of his class, who hits boundaries at will, resorted to defending at the death surprisingly.
“There is no doubt (India lost the match intentionally). I said it at that time as well. Every cricketer felt the same. A player who can hit a six or a four is defending the ball, you just know,” concluded Razzaq.
However, Stokes clarified his stand after questioning India’s batting approach during the game, by tagging the media furore in Pakistan as ‘twisting of words’ and ‘clickbait’. Earlier, Stokes termed the approach of Dhoni and Co. as ‘mystifying’ and ‘bizarre’.
