"I hope he must have got his answer, so keep your boys ready for the next game" - Harbhajan on Najam Sethi's claims that India are afraid of Pakistan
Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has issued a strong reply to former PCB chairman Najam Sethi, who had suggested that the Men in Blue were afraid to play against their arch-rivals. Team India responded in some style in the Asia Cup, dominating Pakistan over the course of two days to record their biggest win against them.
The toss was the only thing that went in Pakistan's favor during the contest. Babar Azam's side struggled to get any sort of momentum as India posted 356-2. The Men in Green were never in the run chase either, as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and ultimately ended up crashing to a heavy 228-run defeat.
After the match, Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel that he wished to convey a message to Sethi.
"I have a message for Najam Sethi. He had said that Team India are afraid of playing against Pakistan, I hope he saw the kind of performance that Team India put up, a record win. I hope he must have got his answer, so keep your boys ready for the next game," Harbhajan said.
Najam Sethi had earlier accused the BCCI and ACC of hosting the matches in the rain-prone Colombo in a bid to yield a no result against Pakistan.
“BCCI/ACC informed PCB today that they had decided to shift next India-Pak match from Colombo to Hambantota because of rain forecasts. Within one hour they changed their mind and announced Colombo as the venue. What’s going on? Is India afraid to play and lose to Pakistan ? Look at the rain forecast,” he said.
Rain did play a role in the contest, as only 24.1 overs were possible on the first day, forcing the teams to head into the reserve day. The second day saw some interruptions due to rain, but the match was completed without the loss of any overs.
"They got nothing out of this match except for getting tired' - Harbhajan Singh on Pakistan
The Super Four encounter against India was one to forget for Pakistan as they were comprehensively outplayed. The Men in Green also suffered a setback with two of their pacers, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah, sustaining injuries.
PCB has called up Shahnawaz Dahani and Zaman Khan as cover for Naseem and Rauf, who may not play the remaining matches as a precautionary measure.
Opining that Pakistan looked tired overall across all departments, Harbhajan Singh said:
"From Pakistan's perspective, they got nothing out of this match except for getting tired. Bowling was too weak, even the state of the batting was same, very poor batting performance. No Pakistani batter showed that they had the ability to play against quality seam and swing bowling and score runs."
Pakistan have two points in the Asia Cup 2023 Super Four stage with one match remaining. They are set to take on Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Thursday.