In the Super Four of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023, India registered a convincing 41-run win over Sri Lanka to qualify for the finals of the competition. Batting first, the Men in Blue started well as skipper Rohit Sharma registered his third half-century on the trot. However, the middle order collapsed and India ended up posting 213 runs on board.
Sri Lanka didn’t have a great start with the bat but their middle-order batters showed a lot of composure. Dunith Wellalage, who picked up a five-for with the ball, made a difference with the bat as well, and he brought the team close to a famous victory. However, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja bowled brilliantly and eventually got the job done for India.
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However, there was a stage when Sri Lanka were the favorites to pull it off. The partnership between Wellalage and Dhananjaya de Silva was crucial and that’s when a lot of Pakistan supporters started calling it a fixed match on Twitter. They complained that the Indian bowlers were not doing enough as they wanted to see Pakistan bow out of the competition.
Reflecting on that, former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar lashed out at these critics and stated that the Men in Blue were giving their hearts out to get over the line. He also labelled it nonsense and lauded Wellalage for his Player of the Match performance.
“I’m receiving messages that India have fixed the game, they’re playing badly so that Pakistan get knocked out. Are you guys out of your minds? They’re bowling their hearts out. Wellalage has bowled really well. He also scored 43. Suddenly, I’m receiving phone calls that India are losing so that Pakistan can get eliminated. Man, why would they lose? They could’ve reached the final with win, and they did. Absolute nonsense,” said Shoaib Akhtar on his YouTube channel.
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Meanwhile, Pakistan will next play Sri Lanka on September 14 in Colombo and the winner of the match will join India in the final.
