Former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar said that he prays that Team India goes to lose from here on after the Men in Blue defeated Bangladesh in Adelaide on November 2, 2022, registering their third win in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022.
With this win, India moved to the top position in Group 2 Super 12s stage points table with 6 wins from 4 matches. This victory also almost confirmed Pakistan’s exit from the tournament as they not only have to win their last two matches against South Africa and Bangladesh but also pray that India and South Africa lose their remaining matches by big margins.
Talking about India’s chances in the T20 World Cup 2022, the 47-year-old Shoaib Akhtar said let's see if India deserves to win the T20 World Cup in Australia.
"I hope India loses from here, but I don't think they will. Time will tell whether they deserve to win the World Cup," Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.
India will now face Zimbabwe in their last group match on November 6 in Melbourne.
While Shoaib Akhtar was skeptical about whether India was deserving of winning the tournament, he was full of praises for former India captain Virat Kohli, who won his second Player of the Match award, after scoring his third unbeaten half-century in the T20 World Cup.
He leads the run-making charts with 220 runs in 4 matches at an average of 220 and best of 82* which came against Pakistan.
"This T20 World Cup is all about Virat Kohli. Today also, he made 64 runs and India made 184. If God wills it, then it happens. He was down for about three years and now he's the top-scorer of this T20 World Cup. The World Cup is being played for him only. I'm sure of this now. I'm also sure that he will continue his stellar run of form and score even more runs in the coming days for India. Having said that, I think India played really well and deserved to win today," said Akhtar.
The former pacer also requested all the fans to not make videos of players' personal belongings and space, reflecting on the incident with Kohli.
"I think Virat Kohli has been amazing and brilliant. Plus, his video that came out yesterday regarding his hotel room. We also stay in hotels all the time, so I request the staff and fans not to make such videos. You invade his personal life, showing his personal stuff on the video. Some people are staying with their wife and kids. But I was happy to see that he is very tidy. Everything is arranged properly. That goes to show the mannerism of the man," said Akhtar.
(India Today inputs)
