Former Indian fast bowler S. Sreesanth has made a bold statement regarding the India vs. Pakistan rivalry at the ODI World Cup, taking a jab at Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s technical director.
Despite Pakistan’s humiliating loss to Rohit Sharma’s Team India in a high-profile match of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023, their technical director, Mickey Arthur, expressed eagerness to face the tournament hosts in the final of the showpiece event. The India-Pakistan rivalry in One Day International (ODI) World Cups has often been one-sided, with Team India defeating Pakistan for the eighth consecutive time at the Narendra Modi Stadium, adding to their eight victories against their arch-rivals in previous ODI World Cup encounters. Even during Pakistan’s successful World Cup campaign in 1992, when they clinched the title, India managed to defeat them. In front of a crowd of 120,000 fans, Rohit and his team extended India’s winning streak to 8-0 against Pakistan in the World Cups, causing disappointment for Pakistan’s fans who were absent in Ahmedabad. In fact, Pakistan team director Arthur went as far as saying that the high-voltage clash didn’t feel like an ICC event to him.
In response to Arthur’s comments, former Indian pacer S. Sreesanth made a bold statement about India’s World Cup rivalry with Pakistan, expressing his belief that even India’s “C” team would have a good chance of defeating Pakistan.
Sreesanth stated, “Mickey Arthur said we’ll meet in the final. I don’t think Pakistan can ever beat India in an ICC trophy or any other event, given their current team. Even an IPL XI made up of players who are not participating could likely defeat the Pakistan team,” in an interview with Sportskeeda.
Facing India in the 2023 World Cup, Babar’s Pakistan side was bowled out for a mere 191 runs in under 43 overs. Despite reaching 155/2 in the 30th over, Pakistan’s hopes of posting a total of 300 or more were dashed due to a collective bowling effort by Jasprit Bumrah and company, leading to a shocking collapse in their batting lineup. Pakistan lost its last eight wickets for a mere 36 runs.
“Pakistan cannot even dream of playing in such a grand stadium. We gave them an opportunity, but if they continue to perform like that, they won’t receive such opportunities in the future,” Sreesanth concluded.
