The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Pakistan turned out to be a lopsided affair as the former annihilated the latter by seven wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (October 14).
Pakistan’s innings folded for a below-par 191 in 42.5 overs after being asked to bat first. The Men in Green were 155/2 at one stage but suffered a collapse that saw them lose eight wickets for just 36 runs.
In reply, the hosts overhauled the target without breaking a sweat. While Rohit Sharma slammed 86 off 63 balls, Shreyas Iyer played an unbeaten knock of 53 to take India home with 19.3 overs to spare.
Following the humiliating loss, pace legend Wasim Akram came down heavily on the Pakistani team, questioning the fitness of the players.
“I am concerned about the fitness of these players. Now there is no fitness test. When Misbah was the coach and selector, he used to get the Yo-Yo Test and other tests done. A professional cricketer should undergo a fitness test at least once in a month. If you won’t do this, you will face this (defeat vs India),” Akram said on A Sports.
“PCB has seen three chairmen in the last 3 years. This created a scare among the team members and management about whether they would be part of the next series or not. From 154 for 2 and then 191 all out was really, really disappointing,” he added.
With this defeat, Pakistan failed to break their World Cup losing streak versus India. They have now lost eight games against the arch-rivals in the global showpiece tournament.
Pakistan will next face Australia at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday (October 20).
