Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, on Wednesday, hit back at Suryakumar Yadav after the India captain dismissed the notion that their clash against Pakistan is still a rivalry. Yadav’s comment came after he was asked last Sunday whether Pakistan had raised their level in the Super Four clash in Dubai compared to their opening match on September 14 at the same venue.”
“I would like to say one thing on this question. I feel that you should stop asking this question on the rivalry,” he said in the post-match presser after India beat Pakistan by six wickets in the chase of 172 in Dubai on Sunday, before being reminded that the query was not about rivalry. It was India’s seventh straight win in men’s international cricket against Pakistan, their last defeat being at the same venue in the 2022 Asia Cup.
“Standards and rivalry are the same,” he continued. “According to me, if two teams play 15-20 matches and if [head-to-head] it is 7-7 or 8-7, then that is called a rivalry. But 13-0, 10-1….I don’t know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore. But yeah, I feel we played better cricket than them.”
Addressing the media on Wednesday ahead of Pakistan’s must-win Super Four game against Bangladesh on Thursday at the Dubai International Stadium, Shaheen side-stepped queries on Suryakumar’s assertion.
“That’s his view, let him say. When we meet (in the likely Asia Cup final on Sunday), we will see kya hai, kya nahi. Tab dekh lenge. We are here to win the Asia Cup and we will give our best effort for that,” Afridi said.
