Former Pakistan skipper Aamer Sohail, who has allegedly accused his national team of match-fixing, was lambasted by Indian counterpart Sourav Ganguly and discarded off-spinner Harbhajan Singh after creating ruckus prior to the coveted final between arch rival India-Pakistan at The Oval on June 18.
After making a controversial remark in the debate, Sohail has riled-up the die-hard fans of Pakistan, before cricket experts and former cricketers came into the rescue of Sarfraz, on the serious allegations levelled by Sohail.
It is pertinent to mention, the former left-handed batsman Sohail has come hard at Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed on the Samaa Tv programme while previewing the first semi-final clash between Men in Green and England which was comprehensively won by Pakistan by eight wickets on June 14 (Wednesday) at the Cardiff.
The 44-year-old Sourav Ganguly, who is also the part of commentary panel for the ICC’s eight-nation event, as he revealed such things are not happening for the first time while adding Sarfraz Ahmed-led Pakistan are used to such stuff.
“The likes of Sarfraz (Ahmed) and his boys are used to all this. This is not the first time I’m hearing all these, Ganguly told in an interview with India today.
The former left-handed batsman Ganguly was taken by surprise after Sohail claimed the ‘external factors’ has helped Sarfraz’s side to win games.
“And how can Pakistan influence their qualification into a final? How?,” Ganguly asked.
However, after Pakistan lost to arch-rival India, in their inaugural match of the ICC Champions Trophy on June 4 by 124 run in a one-sided affair, the side made a strong comeback by winning last three games against England, Sri Lanka and South Africa respectively.
Interestingly, under the leadership Sarfraz, Pakistan has qualified for the grand finale after 18 years in the 50-over format.
Interestingly, the unpredictable Pakistan has qualified first-time ever in ICC Champions Trophy final after giving their best in fielding too.
The 36-year-old off-spinner feels it’s not a good sight for cricket when former skippers and players are trying to tarnish the image of the team.
“I feel so bad when people work so hard and the ex-captains or ex-players talk bad about the team,” Harbhajan maintained.
Moreover, echoing the word, Harbhajan Singh, who’s the Brand Ambassador for the eighth edition of ICC Champions Trophy from India, reiterated Pakistan has fought hard after receiving the drubbing from India.
“They [Pakistan] have worked really hard to get this far,” Harbhajan was quoted by India Today.
Harbhajan, who has claimed 269 wickets in 236 ODIs, is the view that he also thought Pakistan would not reach the finals while adding that’s fine and acceptable after praising the efforts of Pakistan team.
“They thought that Pakistan will not reach that far. That’s fine. Even I thought that they will not reach that far,” Harbhajan remarked.
The Jalandhar-born spinner Harbhajan while throwing all support behind Pakistan believes such elements are uncomfortable with the performance Men in Green put on display.
“These are all talks and I’m sure these guys are jealous,” Harbhajan concluded.
Coming to the conclusion, Pakistan media has termed it as a ‘vitriolic’ campaign against Pakistan team which is scheduled to face Virat Kohli-led side at The Kensington Oval on Super Sunday.