Pakistan's shocking defeat at the hands of comparatively minnow side Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup clash has left the entire Pakistan fuming. The upset has pushed Babar Azam & Co. to the brink of an early ouster from the marquee tournament.
From Pakistan's Group 2, India and South Africa are the two strong contenders to advance to the later stage of the tournament. It will be a herculean task for Pakistan to make it to the semifinal from here.
On the contrary India are on a roll and have defeated Pakistan and Netherlands to notch back to back victories as they look in good stead to make it to the semifinals unlike their arch-rivals Pakistan who are in lurch now.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's legendary speedster Shoaib Akhtar was also fuming after Pakistan's lacklustre show the ongoing T20 World Cup and he expects the Indian team to bow out of the tournament next week in the semifinals stage.
"It's really disappointing. I have said this earlier that Pakistan will return home this week. India, too, will go back home after playing the semi-final as they too aren't that good," Akhtar said in a video on his YouTube channel.
He went on to add: "Maine pehle bhi kaha hai ki Pakistan iss haftah Pakistan waapas aa jayegi, aur agle hafte India bhi waapas aa jayegi semi-final khel ke. Vo bhi koi utne tees maar khan nahi hain (I had said it before that Pakistan will return home this week while India will be back next week, after playing the semi-final. They (India) aren't a quality team either)."
From skipper Babar Azam to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Akhtar blamed everyone for the results the team earned in Australia. He even blamed the board for selecting 'unworthy players'.
"Your performances are average. Enjoy, and keep selecting unworthy players. Don't let in good people. I'm not talking about myself. The job can go to hell. I'm just worried that the country suffers because of this. Don't bring cut-for-role people, who are disciplined and know how things work. You've ruined everything," a furious Akhtar further said.
The result puts Pakistan's hopes of reaching the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022 in serious doubt. Placed 5th in the Group 2 standings, Pakistan have 3 more games to go and they don't have a single win to their name. India, on the other hand, have won both of their first two games.
While Pakistan play Netherlands next, India will lock horns with South Africa on October 30.
India's squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami. Standby Players: Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur.
Pakistan's squad for T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood. Standby Players: Usman Qadir, Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani.
