Earlier this week, Former Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi made a bold statement regarding the head to head clashes between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan. This statement bought in a lot of criticism from the Indian fans. Recently famous cricket commentator and analyst Aakash Chopra hit back at the Pakistan veteran for his controversial remark.
During his interview in a show named Cric Cast show on Youtube, Shahid Afridi claimed that ‘India asked for forgiveness’ after they were beaten on each occasion by the rivals Pakistan.
“Unhe to theek-thaak mara hai humne. Itna mara hai unhe ki match ke baad maafiyan mangi hai unhone. (We’ve thrashed them a lot. I believe we’ve beaten them so much that they used to ask us for forgiveness after the match),” Shahid Afridi said.
This brought in a lot of criticism from the Indian fans around the world.
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Aakash Chopra claimed that the downfall of Pakistan started after the debut of Shahid Afridi, and added that Pakistan was never a better side than India during Afridi’s career. But he acknowledged the fact that Pakistan used to be a good team when legends like Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis played together.
“Pakistan team used to be good at one point. It is still an okay team today. But there was a time when India used to play against Pakistan at Sharjah and the balance was tilted towards the neighbouring nation. But it was not the ‘Afridi time’ that he is talking about.
“Pakistan’s strength was sheer talent – from Imran Khan to Wasim Akram to Waqar Younis. Because of it, they did really well. They used to beat India, there is no doubt about that. But later, when Afridi started playing and till the time he retired, things had changed,” Chopra added.
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There is no cure for misconceptions says, Aakash Chopra
“Some of the best minds in the world have said that there is a cure when a snake bites you, but there is no cure for misconceptions,” Chopra said while taking a dig at Afridi.
Chopra added that even though Pakistan was a better side in the ’90s, ever since then India was dominant, but the fact that both these nations have played very less bilateral series in recent times shift the overall record in favour of Pakistan. In Tests, Pakistan leads the head-to-head battle 12-9 while in the ODIs they are ahead by a 73-55 margin.
But when it comes to World Cups, India has never been beaten by Pakistan.
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