Published 19:22 IST, June 27th 2019
CONTROVERSIAL: "India will intentionally lose against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to avoid facing Pakistan in semis": Former Pak cricketer Basit Ali claims
The India-Pakistan rivalry still lurks around the corner even though a contest between the two teams has already passed. Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali made some controversial comments on a TV show aired in Pakistan, where he says that India would intentionally lose to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in order to keep Pakistan out of the semi-finals.
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The India-Pakistan rivalry still lurks around the corner even though a contest between the two teams has already passed. In an undated video doing the rounds on social media, Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali is seen making some controversial comments. The video appears to be from a TV show aired in Pakistan, where he says that India would intentionally lose to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in order to keep Pakistan out of the semi-finals.
Basit Ali claims that India would do anything to make sure Pakistan does not reach the semi-finals.
"India played against Afghanistan and we all saw how they played. I think they did that intentionally. Against Australia, they played brilliant innings despite knowing that they would face the likes of Warner and Finch. My advice to Pakistan is that they focus on their game against New Zealand", Basit tells the anchor.
He goes on to say that teams have lost intentionally before like how New Zealand lost to Pakistan in 1992 because they wanted to play on their home ground. He further rubbishes the anchor's claim that cricket is an unpredictable game and tells the anchor to ask "Imran saab"(Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan) and that he would too say that New Zealand lost intentionally to Pakistan in 1992.
Basit Ali's comments about the gentlemen's game have raised the eyebrows of many cricketing fans around the world. Some of them took to Twitter to react to these comments. Catch the tweets here:
18:42 IST, June 27th 2019