Former Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar believes that India are strong contenders to win this T20 World Cup. The Indian team secured the top spot in their Super Eight group through defeating Australia through 24 runs in St. Lucia, putting in a semi-final clash against England scheduled for Thursday (June 27).
Akhtar expressed his conviction that India were also deserving winners of the 2023 World Cup and empathized with Rohit Sharma for missing out on lifting the trophy. However, he believes the experienced opener deserves to lift the T20 World Cup and is optimistic about the trophy returning to the Indian subcontinent.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Shoaib Akhtar shared his thoughts as follows:
“Well done India, this is your World Cup now. You should win this and the World Cup should stay in the subcontinent. And You should have won the previous too and this too. You deserve it one hundred percent. My support is with you. Rohit’s intent is good and his conscience is clear. He deserves to lift the trophy.”
Rohit Sharma played an outstanding innings, scoring 92 runs from only 41 deliveries, and completely dominated the Australian bowling attack. He achieved a milestone by becoming the inaugural Indian men’s captain to receive the Player of the Match accolade in a T20 World Cup fixture.
India’s sadness turned into a strong desire: Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar stated that India were motivated to perform strongly against Australia because of the devastating loss they experienced in the ODI World Cup final last year. He was delighted to witness how the Indian team aggressively took control of the game and forced Australia to concede defeat.
On this, Akhtar further stated:
“What a comprehensive win for India. They had been going through depression after they lost a World Cup that they should have won. They had lost to Australia in the final and that depression turned into obsession. And They wanted to hit back at Australia.”
Travis Head’s brave innings of 76 runs went unrewarded as Australia managed only 181/7 while chasing India’s target of 206.
Consequently, Australia’s journey in the tournament ends here, while Afghanistan advances to the semi-finals from Super Eight Group 1, having defeated Bangladesh by eight runs in an exciting match.
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