2017 ICC Champions Trophy: Virender Sehwag Has An Advise For The Pakistanis Ahead Of Indo-Pak Match
Nov 2, 2023 at 3:49 PM
Not the one to mince his words, former India opener Virender Sehwag has given an advice to all the Pakistanis ahead of the much-awaited ICC Champions Trophy clash between India and Pakistan at Edgbaston on Sunday (June 4).
The Indo-Pak game is undoubtedly the most aniticapted on-field clash in cricket, both for the fans of either countriy and not a single person wants his or her team to lose this encounter.
However, in the last decade or so, Team India has had the upper hand in this famous rivalry. With both the teams not playing bilateral ties from quite some time now owing to the escalating political tensions, they have only played in ICC tournaments and Asia Cup and the Men in Blue have thoroughly earned the bragging rights of this fixture.
Since 2007 when both the teams last played a full-fledged bilateral series in India, they have met in Champions Trophy and World Cup twice each and barring the 2009 Champions Trophy when Pakistan defeated India by 54 runs, the latter have won on the other three occasions. And with history in its favour, the Virat Kohli-led side is once again entering the match with the favourites tag.
The defeat in this high-voltage fixture, meanwhile, results in gloomy scenes in the losing country and with India heavily tipped to win the much-anticipated encounter, Sehwag has urged the Pakistanis to buy new radio sets to break them in frustration after their team loses the match.
In the past, the fans from Pakistan have been seen breaking their television sets after their team lost to India and Sehwag feels breaking a radio will be good for their pockets.
The former India cricketer was speaking alongside former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar on a Hindi TV channel ABP News.
“Buy radio sets instead of television as it won’t pinch their pockets if they have to break them after Pakistan loses the June 4 contest versus India,” Sehwag said.
Akhtar, meanwhile, came up with a meek reply which suggested that he is already expecting the worse for his nation in the match.
“We have enough old Chinese TV sets which don’t work, so we (will) break them (instead),” Akhtar said.
Thereafter, Sehwag continuously mocked Akhtar for Pakistan’s inability to beat India in ICC World Cups. Sehwag also said that defeating Pakistan would be a cakewalk for India.
On the other hand, Akhtar kept reminding Sehwag that Pakistan has a better head-to-head record (2-1) against India in ICC Champions Trophy. When asked about how his nation can win the match, Akhtar said:
“Pakistan need to play like Kohli, or even half of what how Kohli plays like. If we play with game awareness at run a ball or at an economy of four or five for the full 50 overs, it will provide Pakistan with a very strong chance.”
And as if all these trolling were not enough, Sehwag took another dig at Akhtar when the latter said that India and Pakistan should play at least two series every year.
In reply, Sehwag said:
“BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world and it’s Pakistan who needs a bilateral series more than anyone.”