T20 World Cup 2021 | Questions will be raised if New Zealand lose to Afghanistan, says Shoaib Akhtar

11/06/2021

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Shoaib Akhtar has said that if New Zealand loses to Afghanistan on Sunday in Abu Dhabi, a lot of questions will be raised. The Black Caps will be eyeing their T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final berth with the victory, whereas India will be hoping for Afghanistan to win to stay in the hunt.

After thier successive defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand, India stormed back at the T20 World Cup 2021 with emphatic wins against Afghanistan and Scotland. Now the hopes of Virat Kohli and his men rest on the New Zealand-Afghanistan clash on Sunday, as they need the Mohammad Nab-led team to defeat the Black Caps to stay alive at the marquee event.

With the win against Scotland, India's NRR has risen to +1.169, the best in Group 2. If Afghanistan manages to defeat New Zealand by a huge margin and get past India’s NRR, then the Virat Kohli-led side would need a big win against Namibia on Monday.

Meanwhile, Shoaib Akhtar said that if the Kiwis lose to Afghanistan, then it will become a trending topic.

“India’s fate is now in New Zealand’s hands. If New Zealand lose [to Afghanistan] a lot of questions will be raised, I’m warning you. I’m afraid that it will become another trending topic. I don’t want to get into any controversy but sentiments of Pakistanis are really high at the moment as far as New Zealand is concerned,” Akhtar said on his Youtube channel.

“I think New Zealand are better than Afghanistan. If, God forbid, they don’t play well and lose, that will be a problem. Nobody will be able to stop social media if it happens and we have to take that into consideration.”

The former speedster added that he would like India to qualify for the final alongside Pakistan, which can gain more popularity for the ICC mega event.

“Personally, I would India to advance to the final with Pakistan so that we can beat them again. It'll be good for cricket. It will make the World Cup even bigger.

"I was telling everyone not to write off India earlier also. Their World Cup was not finished after the first two games,” the former speedster added.

India will face Namibia on Monday, November 8 in Dubai.