Pakistan vs Afghanistan World Cup: Wasim Akram, Pakistan’s former captain and one of the greatest left-arm fast bowlers of all time, is absolutely livid at the crushing defeat that Pakistan had to face in its clash against Afghanistan on Monday.
The Hashmatullah Shahidi-led team successfully chased a target of 283 runs as their openers Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz provided a strong start as the two scored 87 and 65 runs respectively. Following them, Rahmat Shah and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi also had strong innings as they scored 77 and 48 runs respectively. Ibrahim Zadran was also awarded the Man of the Match after the tournament.
Afghanistan registered their first-ever win in ODIs against Pakistan by defeating the Men in Green by 8 wickets in Chennai. This was the second victory of the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led team in the ongoing World Cup 2023. Afghanistan had previously won the match against England.
Akram gave the Babar Azam-led team a serious dressing down as Pakistan is in a tight spot in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. He said that the defeat against Afghanistan was embarrasing and these players look like they are “gobbling 8 kgs of mutton everyday”.
“It was embarrasing today. To reach 280-odd losing just two wickets is pretty big. Wet pitch or no, look at the fielding, the fitness levels. We’ve been screaming for the last 3 weeks that these players haven’t undergone a fitness test in the last two years. If I start taking individual names, their faces will drop. Looks like these guys are gobbling 8 kilos of mutton everyday. Should there not be tests,” Akram told A Sports.
He added that when Misbah-ul-Haq was the coach of the Pakistani cricket team, he had a certain fitness criteria for the Pakistani cricket team. He also said that even though the players hated Misbah for the criteria, the fact is that it worked for the team.
Akram, also revered as The Sultan of Swing, further explained that fielding is all about fitness and the Pakistani team is severely lacking in that front.
After attacking the present Pakistan team over its fitness levels, Akram trained his guns at the current Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regime. He blamed Pakistan’s cricketing body for taking rash decisions such as agreeing to playing Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka in a hybrid format. After Ramiz Raja was sacked, Najam Sethi was appointed as the interim chairman of the PCB for a period of four months before Zaka Ashraf was finally appointed.
Wasim Akram, however, was not the only one to slam the Pakistani team for their recent defeat. Former Pakistan right-arm bowler Waqar Younis also slammed the Babar Azam-led team and their attitude after the Pakistan vs Afghanistan match. Younis also praised the Afghanistan team for registering a stellar win against Pakistan.
According to the former Pakistan captain, the team seemed to lack a basic understanding of cricket. “It is very hurting. But I’m very happy for Afghanistan. Also, don’t forget because you know they deserve it. The way they handle the pressure, the way they played cricket. I’m happy for them. I am gutted because you know what I’ve seen today,” Waqar Younis said while speaking on Star Sports.
Also Read: ‘Pack your bags, and return’: Pakistani team gets slammed after humiliating defeat against Afghanistan in World Cup 2023
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