Former cricketer Virender Sehwag.
New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets in Bengaluru on Thursday, severely hurting Pakistan’s chances of winning the 2023 World Cup. It’s not as if they can’t qualify for the same, but Babar Azam’s team needed a victory against Sri Lanka to maintain their hopes of making it to the semi-finals. However, a victory for the Kiwis made Pakistan’s task against England in their last group encounter even more difficult. For Babar and company to advance to the knockout stages, they must now defeat England by a minimum of 287 runs.
Even while the outcome isn’t unthinkable, many former cricket players have already come to terms with India and New Zealand meeting in the semi-final next week. One of them, former India opener Virender Sehwag, poked fun at Pakistan on Friday following a setback to their chances of making the semi-finals. In a contentious tweet titled “Pakistan Zindabhaag,” he suggested that the team would depart for home following its last group play against England.
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Pakistan responded negatively to the tweet, and soon after, supporters on both sides of the border started to quarrel. In one such tweet, a fan from Pakistan said that Sehwag had been tormented by their bowlers on several occasions. An Indian responded by pointing out that Sehwag, the former opener for India, has an average of about 91 against Pakistan.
After that, Sehwag took a serious swipe at Pakistan’s bowling attack by quoting the India fan’s tweet and saying that the team’s bowling after Wasim Akram’s retirement wasn’t good enough for him.
Well, Wasim bhai retired a long time ago; 200 years ago was the average age at which he died. But Inke Mazzey lene mein maza aata hai jo bhi ho, tab bhi aur ab bhi. (No, dude. Given their bowling attack after Wasim bhai’s retirement, I ought to have averaged 200. Regardless, it was enjoyable to oppose them both then and now),” Sehwag added.
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Pakistan’s final group game is against England on Saturday, and Australia’s final group game is against Bangladesh in Pune. On Sunday, India—who have already advanced to the semifinals—will play the Netherlands in their final group stage match.
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