Asia Cup 2023
‘Are you afraid of going to Sharjah?’ – Former Pakistan cricketer Sikander Bakht accuses India of avoiding the ‘bad’ venue
India defeated Pakistan in the first match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
India and Pakistan are all set to resume their rivalry in their second clash of the Asia Cup 2022 on Sunday. Given the scale of the match, all of the cricketing fraternity has set its sights on the two teams and everything going around them.
Historically speaking, this clash has been marred by many controversies and often tensions around the game are always high. Although so far the two teams have had an aura of friendliness around them, the former Pakistan cricketer Sikander Bakht has tried to change that with his controversial statement.
Speaking in a panel discussion comprising former India captain Kapil Dev, Atul Wassan and Mohammed Azharuddin, Bhakt asked the former Indian cricketers in the India team is ‘scared’ to play in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
“I just wanted to know, why doesn’t India want to play in Sharjah or Abu Dhabi? They only play in Dubai. Are you afraid of playing in Sharjah? The draws had already been out,” Sikander Bakht said on the show GEO Super.
“The schedule had India’s match against Pakistan in Sharjah. You guys changed it to Dubai. Are you afraid of going to Sharjah? We have been asked this question by our people, so I thought I would ask the same to you,” the former Pakistan cricketer added further.
Indian panellists Kapil Dev and Azharuddin did not comment on the outrageous claim but Wassan went on to suggest that Sharjah had been “bad” for the Men in Blue in the past.
“That ground has been pretty bad for us. Now, we are in strong favours with cricket’s governing body, so we are not playing there,” Wassan said, bringing out laughter from the entirety of the panellists.
Notably, India have already defeated Pakistan once in the Asia Cup 2022 when they met in the first stage in Dubai. Fate has brought the two together again in the Super Four match on Sunday 4th September 2022. Both teams look good coming into this next match and expectations are very high from both sides of fans.
