Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has said that the Asia Cup game between India and Pakistan, which the Men in Blue won by seven wickets on Sunday, was a clear indicator that this current Pakistan team “has a lot of class” and that the Indians were in a “different league” altogether.
Pakistan never put up a fight against India at the Dubai International Stadium in Sunday’s group stage clash, managing to score a paltry 127/9 in their quota of 20 overs before the Indians chased it down with 25 balls to spare. The game was the first of what could be three clashes between the arch-rivals in the Asia Cup. That is if Pakistan can even make it to the Super 4s and the final.
“Perhaps the Asia Cup organizers should have three India and Sri Lanka games next time. I feel that India and Sri Lanka would be a much tighter contest,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat.
“I actually feel very, very sorry for the Pakistan cricket team. They don’t have the exposure to play in all the cricket leagues in the world. They’re not able to ply their trade in most of the leagues. I will not get too much into these political things. For Pakistan, I felt that only Saim Ayub has a great temperament. He also bowled a great spell, especially the way he took the wickets of Shubman Gill and Tilak Verma. It was class apart because Abhishek Sharma took him down, but besides Saim Ayub, I don’t think this Pakistan cricket team has a lot of class,” Ashwin said before adding: “Of course, India is in a different league in every way—practically, technically, and strategically. So it’s very unfair to compare.”
When asked if this is the weakest Pakistani cricket team that we have seen, Ashwin said: “I would say this is the strongest T20 team that India has ever put on a park. It is just unfair to even compare both teams.”
Ashwin pointed out that players like Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Verma had been forged in the constant caldron of pressure that the Indian Premier League is while the Pakistan players were not used to playing under such conditions.
Ashwin then went on to explain his comments with examples of what had transpired in the game.
Story continues below this ad
“In the batting today, look at Abhishek Sharma. This is why I rate him the most. Sharma used his feet on the very first ball against Shaheen Shah Afridi. In stark contrast, Mohammad Haris stood his ground and hit Jasprit Bumrah across the line, and the ball went straight up. You can’t play such a shot against Bumrah. This is not the Oman team. You can hit those kinds of bowlers, but it’s not the same against Bumrah. What did I say in the preview? If Pakistan were 75 for one at the end of 10 overs, they could have easily made 150, 160, or even 165. Because let’s just look at the previous games against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Even Bangladesh was able to make 140, and they came back much later with the partnership of Zakir Ali and Shamim. But Pakistan has been practically very, very poor. I told you, in the chakkar of giving it your all, you don’t want them getting bogged down. They got bogged down again.”
He added: “Until Shaheen Shah Afridi came to bat, they just could not pick Kuldeep Yadav. They could not middle deliveries from Varun Chakravarthy.”
