The much-buzzed one-sided India versus Pakistan match for the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai saw a garnering hundred from Virat Kohli and all-round performance from the victorious side. India ended with a six-wicket win over their neighbors and bolstered themselves with the second straight win in this first-ever ICC tournament since 2017.
The trio, comprising Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel, bowled 26 overs for 129 runs, taking 5 wickets between them-dissenting support in limiting Pakistan’s below-par total to 241-all out in 49.4 overs.
In the post-match media interactions, Rizwan, when asked about the options available with Pakistan in terms of spin compared to India, responded, saying, “Even India, Kuldeep is a one-line spinner; Jadeja and Axar are really more all-rounders than spinners.”
He added: “If you look at that India team, they have Kuldeep as the frontline spinner. Jadeja is like an allrounder, Axar Patel is like an allrounder. We also have Salman Ali Agha – he has bowled very well in other countries and Khushdil Shah: they have also done well like in the past.”
Former India opener Aakash Chopra took to jibe at Rizwan’s statement.
“Pakistan skipper Rizwan says Salman Agha and Khushdil Shah are on par with Jadeja and Axar as bowlers. Only someone with such a vivid imagination could possibly concoct such nonsense,” Aakash said on X.
Pakistan skipper Rizwan believes that Salman Agha and Khushdil Shah are of the same quality (as bowlers) as Jadeja and Axar. You can’t make these things up.
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 24, 2025
Delulu Is The Only Sululu 🤪😂
Please stay like this, Pakistan. Even though matches are one-sided…Pakistan’s meme game…
“Delulu is the only sululu. Stay like this, Pakistan. The matches are mostly one-sided, but after your loss, their cricket content and meme game have been top-notch,” he added.
With only one specialist spinner in Abrar Ahmed, Pakistan’s 10 overs produced the bowling figures of 1/28.
On this, Rizwan disagreed when asked if the defending champions should have considered including another specialist spinner in the eleven.
“An ODI team cannot be expected to have five genuine bowlers. Naseem, Shaheen, Haris, and Abrar are Pakistan’s frontline bowlers. Look at New Zealand. The fifth bowler is Michael Bracewell, an allrounder; in India, we have Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. Khushdil Shah and Agha Salman- both can bat at positions seven to eight and bowl-were given the best from the selectors. This is not a great combination: five genuine bowlers and six specialist batters (in ODIs). There will be questions about whether we could have done better with another (specialist) spinner. In T20Is, you can go with five genuine bowlers, but in ODIs, it is a longer format,” Rizwan said.
