Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had taken a brutal dig at Team India moments after Rohit Sharma and his men lost the T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Adelaide on Thursday. India had lost by 10 wickets in the match where the England opening pair of Alex Hales and Jos Buttler showed no mercy to the Indian bowling attack. The tweet immediately went viral and was criticised by Indian cricket fans. Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Saturday broke his silence on the tweet ahead of the team's blockbuster final against England at the MCG.
The loss on Thursday was only the second instance that India were defeated by a margin of 10 wickets in a T20 World Cup game. The previous was against Pakistan in Dubai last year when Babar and Mohammad Rizwan had recorded a match-winning 152-run opening stand. Shehbaz Sharif had reminded Indian fans of that very same as he tweeted, “So, this Sunday, it’s: 152/0 vs 170/0 #T20WorldCup.”
Speaking to the media ahead of the big MCG final, Babar was asked about the tweet and whether such social-media posts tend to put extra pressure on the side.
Babar replied saying, “There is no pressure as such. But sorry to say, I didn't see this tweet so I have no knowledge of it. But yes we just try to give our best against the opposition.”
{{/usCountry}}Babar replied saying, “There is no pressure as such. But sorry to say, I didn't see this tweet so I have no knowledge of it. But yes we just try to give our best against the opposition.”
{{/usCountry}}Both Pakistan and England have reached their their third T20 World Cup final, their last instance being in the previous decade, and both have a 1-1 record. Pakistan won the trophy in 2009 after losing to India in 2007 final while England lifted the trophy a year later.