Former Indian openers Aakash Chopra and Virender Sehwag lambasted the Pakistan team for making lame excuses for their poor campaign in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 in India. The Men in Green suffered their third consecutive loss in the marquee event, with their last defeat coming against Afghanistan in Chennai.
Pakistan started off their campaign with victory over the Netherlands and South Africa. However, their campaign is in ruins after three straight defeats to India, Australia, and Afghanistan, and the Pakistan bowlers struggled to stop Afghanistan batters in the game, with their spinners failing to pick up a single wicket on the pitch, which assisted the spinners.
Taking his X handle, Aakash Chopra feels that fans need to question the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over the team’s dismissal performance in the ongoing marquee event and reckons that Naseem Shah’s absence cannot be the reason for their poor campaign in the ODI World Cup and Asia Cup.
Naseem Shah is a damn good bowler. No doubt about it.
But using his absence as an excuse for losing three matches in a row is a cop-out. People from Pakistan on this platform need to ask questions to the PCB instead. Finished Fourth in the Asia Cup. Now, the World Cup. How did…— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 24, 2023
“Naseem Shah is a damn good bowler. No doubt about it. But using his absence as an excuse for losing three matches in a row is a cop-out. People from Pakistan on this platform need to ask questions to the PCB instead. Finished fourth in the Asia Cup. Now, the World Cup. How did it come to this??” Aakash Chopra wrote on his X handle
Naseem Shah suffered a shoulder injury during the Super 4 contest against India in the Asia Cup and was eventually ruled out of the ODI World Cup after failing to recover on time for the marquee event.
The Right-arm pacer has been a vital bowler for Pakistan in all three formats and has continued playing cricket for the last 18 months. The youngster has played 14 ODI games for the Men in Green picking up 32 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 4.68 and his absence has been felt by the Pakistan team in the World Cup.
Virender Sehwag said that Pakistan has been an unpredictable team over the years and slammed them for making different excuses following their defeat in the World Cup and went on to praise Afghanistan for the brilliant performance against the Men in Green in Chennai.
Pakistan is an unpredictable side but the way they have been making lame excuses for their earlier defeats, this was certainly on the cards. Just did not focus on their many weaknesses. What a proud day for Afghanisitan, came close many times but today crossed the line. #AFGvsPAK pic.twitter.com/axdkdSZVFo
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 23, 2023
“Pakistan is an unpredictable side but the way they have been making lame excuses for their earlier defeats, this was certainly on the cards. Just did not focus on their many weaknesses. What a proud day for Afghanistan came close many times, but today crossed the line,” Virender Sehwag wrote on his X handle.
The Men in Green set Afghanistan a 283-run target batting first. With eight wickets remaining and an extra over to spare, Hashmatullah Shahidi and the team defeated Pakistan to hand Pakistan a third defeat in a row while claiming their second victory of the competition.