Former Pakistan cricketers on Thursday expressed happiness over the unexpected ouster of India from the World Cup after losing to New Zealand in the semifinal
Waqar Younis
Former Pakistan captain and fast bowler Waqar Younis was quick to express his joy by posting in his twitter account, saying India had got what they deserved, an apparent reference to suspicions that India didn't perform intentionally well against England to keep Pakistan out of the last four stages.
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"Such a brutal game this Cricket and a great leveler...Bites you back when you are expecting the least. I learned a great lesson never abuse the game," Waqar tweeted.
After India's loss to England in the league phase, Pakistani fans and some former players alleged that they had done it deliberately to ensure Pakistan didn't qualify for the semi-finals.
Former Test players like Sikander Bakht, Basit Ali and some others openly accused India of intentionally not giving their best against England.
"Whatever anyone says, I had said before India would intentionally play badly against England and some other teams. It is poetic justice that India today has lost a match they should have won easily," Basit said.
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif, however, said that India lost because they were too relaxed against New Zealand and didn't show the intensity that is required in a knockout match.
"Once a semi-final is spread over two days it always becomes difficult for the side batting second and Henry and Boult produced some lethal balls early to get those wickets," Rashid noted.
Former Test captain Moin Khan felt No. 4 and 5 remained a problem for India. "I think their main problem remained the number four and five positions and this showed up in the semi-final. However good a team is it is bound to have a bad day and for India, unfortunately, their top order flopped in the semi-final," he said.
Even as the India and New Zealand match was spread over two days, it was interesting to see people in small groups peering into their mobile phone sets to see where the match was heading.
There were some who were staunch admirers of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and till he was at the crease were convinced India would win the match.
But generally, the people were cheering every fall of Indian wicket and a good over from any New Zealand bowler. "I think basically we see more people enjoying India's defeat is because of the things that have taken place between the two countries in recent times and especially how Indian politicians and some cricketers have tried to involve cricket with politics," cricket writer Omair Alavi said.
He pointed out that before the World Cup the way the Indian people in general and their cricket community had blasted Pakistan and talked about boycotting the 16 June World Cup match, it was payback time for the Pakistani people.
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