‘Agar chacha ke bete ko Kohli ka shirt chahiye…’: Akram mercilessly hammers Babar Azam for jersey act with Virat
India executed a cricketing masterclass in the long-awaited World Cup showdown against arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday, defeating them by seven wickets at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. What was anticipated as a fiercely-contested battle turned into a one-sided affair, thanks to an all-round dominating performance from India on all fronts. Leading from the front, Indian captain Rohit Sharma dazzled with an exquisite 86 runs off 63 balls, propelling his team to a modest target of 192 with a staggering 19.3 overs to spare.
Virat Kohli gifts his jersey to Babar Azam (L); Wasim Akram(X/Files)
Jasprit Bumrah was named player of the match for his exquisite 2/19 figures, as all bowlers bar Shardul Thakur picked two each. Shreyas Iyer hit the winning runs – and also smashed an impressive half-century with them – to take India to a third-successive loss. As for Pakistan, it would be back to the drawing board as Babar Azam and the team management faced a second one-sided defeat to India in almost a month’s time. In the Asia Cup, Pakistan were handed a 228-run loss by their arch-rivals in the Super 4 stage.
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Also read: ‘Shaheen Afridi is no Wasim Akram. He’s nothing special’: Shastri, Gavaskar tear into PAK star after India WC hammering
In the wake of Pakistan’s loss, one of the moments following the game has caused significant controversy on social media platforms. It included Pakistan captain Babar and Virat Kohli; the latter could be seen gifting his jersey to Babar, and many fans from Pakistan believe that it would’ve been more prudent to do such an act in the dressing room, given the heavy margin of defeat. In fact, this is exactly what one of Pakistan’s fans conveyed to a panel of experts including Wasim Akram during a television show on A Sports, a channel in Pakistan.
The fan stated that the gesture should’ve been made beyond the public eye and Akram passionately agreed with the fan, and also made a rather interesting remark on Babar.
“That’s what I exactly said when I saw the picture [getting the shirts publicly, not privately],” Akram said.
“Today was not the day to do this. If you want to do it – “Agar chacha ke puttar ne kaha hai ki t-shirt chahiye Kohli ki, toh match ke baad dressing room me maango. (If your uncle’s son has asked you to get Kohli’s shirt – then do it after the game in the dressing room),” Akram further said.
Pakistan eye revival
Following a tough loss, Pakistan will aim to make a strong comeback when they face a dented Australian team on October 20. Pat Cummins’ men are yet to secure a win in the edition so far, facing heavy defeats to India and South Africa. The heavy margin of defeat has hurt Pakistan’s Net Run Rate (NRR) as well, as the side is now at four points with an NRR of -0.137. India have jumped to top of the table with 6 points and a better NRR than New Zealand.
