Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra feels Afghanistan’s World Cup 2023 win against Pakistan cannot be termed an upset. Pakistan set Afghanistan a 283-run target at Chepauk in Chennai on Monday, October 23 which they chased down with eight wickets and an over to spare to register their second win of the tournament as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “Pakistan came to India with the plan of making it 7-1. That couldn’t happen, it became 8-0. That was the story in Ahmedabad. Pakistan wanted to make it 8-0 against Afghanistan, that too didn’t happen. It has become 7-1 because Afghanistan have defeated Pakistan. We can’t even call it an upset now. How can it be an upset – they defeated England and here they have defeated Pakistan by eight wickets. They have done an amazing job. Dhoti phad ke rumal kar diya hai.”
However, Chopra also added that Pakistan should have won the game, considering they won the toss, got the chance to bat first, and put up a decent total as well. He further shared that their bowling is no longer as formidable as it used to be. While talking about Pakistan’s defeat, Aakash Chopra said that Afghanistan are proving that they are no pushovers.
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“Pakistan have lost their third consecutive game. Three on the bounce – India, Australia and Afghanistan. On the other hand, Afghanistan are showing that they can’t be taken lightly. They lost the Bangladesh game wrongly in Dharamsala. Otherwise, this team is giving a serious threat that they will floor a few big teams. They have already defeated two. Don’t know whether you are considering Pakistan a big team or not but they have floored Pakistan, there is no doubt about that,” he shared.
However, he has also criticized Pakistan’s bowling for their inability to defend a seemingly winning total as well. And, with this, they lost three games on a trot. He also praised Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, and Hashmatullah Shahidi for their batting. Gurbaz (65 off 53) and Zadran (87 off 113) added together a 130-run opening-wicket partnership whereas Shah (77* off 84) and Shahidi (48* off 45) later added 96 runs for the third wicket and sealed the deal.
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“I will be honest, when the second innings started, I thought Pakistan would win but Rahmanullah Gurbaz – subhanallah Gurbaz, and Ibrahim Zadran was there alongside him. He also batted well and they had an opening partnership of more than 100,” he stated. “The three fours in an over from Haris Rauf through the off-side, four in total, were sumptuous. We spoke about Abdullah Shafique, and Ibrahim Zadran also plays like that. This kid is a classy player. When the openers got out, Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi, and the job was finished.”
“Pakistan’s weakness came to the fore, which is basically the bowling. With due respect, they are not bowling well. The English language has taught us that whichever sentence is started with ‘with due respect’, it means less respect is being given. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran are two batters whose numbers are good in the first innings but they don’t score runs when they chase. We were assuming that Afghanistan had a greater chance of winning if they set a target on a turning and slowish pitch. We thought they would get stuck if they are asked to chase,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
