ICC World Cup 2019 | Felt like the prayers couldn’t reach India as they lost the match, says Shoaib Akhtar

Pakistan fans were left with no option but to cheer for their arch-rivals India against England as a win for the former meant that Pakistan would have their fate in their own hands. However, to their disappointment, India were comprehensively beaten by England, and former Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar has come forward and had his say about the match. 

“It was for the first time that Pakistani fans were praying for India to win against England. However, it feels like the prayers couldn’t reach India as they lost the match,” Akthar said in his YouTube channel, speaking about the match. 

“It was for the first time since Partition that we were supporting India. I am sure India must have tried their best but their best could not help Pakistan and leave us with a hope,” Akhtar added.

Akhtar expressed his disappointment over the Indian bowling, saying that they were completely "exposed" by Bairstow and Roy and that they could have conceded 30 runs less. The Indian bowlers were completely exposed by Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy and other England batsmen. I felt that India could have conceded at least 30 runs less. I felt that India could have chased down if the total was around 300," said Akhtar.

Akhtar also lashed out at the Indian batsmen for their conservative approach in their quest of chasing 338. "India needed to get off to a flier during their chase of 338. However, it was not the case and in the mix of things, they started very slowly. And towards, the end as well, they batted very slowly,” he said.

Akhtar also spoke about the Indian middle-order, which has been the topic of discussion in the last three matches. “The Indian batting line-up will have to do a lot of thinking as their middle-order is getting exposed quite a number of times in this World Cup." he concluded.