Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023 winning Pakistan A team’s captain Mohammad Haris has made a burning statement over the constant criticism of Men in Green sending cricketers with international experience in the tournament, while in comparison, India sent its actual rising stars to compete.
India A defeated Pakistan A badly in the league stage, but then the Haris-led Pakistan side demolished the young Indian side in the final in a one-sided contest.
However, some critics said that it was more of a clash between ‘senior players’ from Pakistan vs. the ‘young brigade’ from India. Pakistan had several players in their team who had played international cricketers including their captain Haris. Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Saim Ayub were other cricketers with little international exposure.
On the other hand, India A was filled with U19 World Cup winners like Yash Dhull, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Manav Suthar, and other stars like Sai Sudarshan and Riyan Parag to name a few.
Hamne Toh Nahi Kaha Tha Ki Aap Chotey Bache Leke Aao: Mohammad Haris On India A Sending Young Players
However, this criticism of Pakistan team sending players with international cricket experience and winning against a young Indian side didn’t go down well with Mohammad Haris, who simply said that nobody told India to send little kids to this tournament.
He instead highlights that the majority of young Indian players had experience of playing in IPL tournaments, which is a big thing as the IPL is not a small league.
“(Ye kehte hai ki aapka international experience tha. International experience kitna hai. Saim ke 5 matche hai, mere 6 match hai. Saare T20 hai. Inke team pe IPL ke 260 matches ka experience hai). People are saying that Pakistan sent a team with many seniors. We did not ask them to send little kids to the tournament. They say that we had international experience in our team. How much international matches have we played but? Saim has played 5, I have played 6. Those guys (India players) have played 260 IPL matches,” Haris said.
'Humne toh nahin kaha tha aap chotay larkay le ke aao' – Mohammad Haris ♥️
Pakistan Shaheens captain Haris says India A had the opportunity to choose whichever squad they wanted to. He also says India A players had experience of 260 IPL matches ?pic.twitter.com/QWNuLCVGO8
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) August 5, 2023