ICC World Cup 2019 | Wake up India, now you'll have to help us, pleads Shoaib Akhtar
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Shoaib Akhtar seemed to be ecstatic after Pakistan’s brilliant victory over New Zealand as the former pacer was all praise for the team’s star performers. He requested India to defeat England in order to pave way for Pakistan for the semis, before boasting about the spirit of his country with pride.
A week ago, Pakistan were thought to be out of the race for the semis, having a very slim chance of going through to the knockout stage. However, they have made a resounding comeback with emphatic victories against South Africa and New Zealand. With England losing its games in the same timeframe to Sri Lanka and Australia, the Green Army has a realistic chance of leapfrogging the hosts and ending the group stage in a top four spot.
Currently, Pakistan has seven points from as many games while England has eight. However, if the Men in Green manage to win their next two games and England loses against India, they will have managed to succesfully book a semi final berth for themselves.
“I feel that Pakistan has made a good comeback - but now, India: wake up! Now you'll have to help us. Defeat England, and we'll win our two matches so we can face you in the semifinals and defeat you there!” Akhtar said in video released on his youtube channel.
The World Cup has followed a similar path so far as the ‘92 World Cup, which Pakistan ended as champions. Akhtar released a strong statement warning the opposition of how lethal Pakistan can be when under attack, echoing skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed’s words in the post match press conference.
“It has become an interesting tournament- spooky, identical world cup, but Pakistan are well on their way to make it to the semifinals. Never, ever corner the Pakistan team, because when they are cornered, they come back and hurt you, and they strike you down. Remember what I had said before, all is not lost, there is still hope - but it takes a little time for Pakistan to wake up. That's the thing with Pakistan: we have to push them, be strict with them, give them a few shocks, to wake them up. But now they have risen, at the right time, and at the right opportunity,” Akhtar said.
A defining 116-run partnership between a resilient Haris Sohail and centurion Babar Azam secured Pakistan a hard fought victory against the Black Caps, and the Rawalpindi express took the opportunity to applaud their excellent performance.
“Pakistan played like Imran Khan's tigers. Haris Sohail - What a fight. But still feel that the order is wrong. Haris should be playing before Hafeez. It would have been very easy for Hafeez down the order. The situation for Babar Azam was perfect. He had to play slow, and he had to go deep. The whole of Pakistan is giving him kisses now,"
While they are almost certain to win their next match against Afghanistan, the final group stage fixture against continental rivals Bangladesh will decide the country’s fate in the ongoing World Cup. "We have one big match against Bangladesh, which will either bring massive respect, or massive humiliation to the team. This is a very dangerous match,” Akhtar concluded.
