Last Update on: November 16th, 2023 at 10:58 am
Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar congratulated the Indian team after they made it to the final of the ICC World Cup 2023. The Men in Blue defeated the Kiwis by 70 runs to make it to the final for the first time in 12 years.
India scored 398/4 on the back of centuries from Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer to take India to a mammoth total. Mohammed Shami then took 7/57 to help India win the match by 70 runs as the Kiwis scored 327.
The Men in Blue now await the second finalists which will be decided after the South Africa vs Australia match in Kolkata. Meanwhile, Akhtar taking to his YouTube channel has praised the Indian cricket team for making it to the semi-final. He said that the teams deserved to be in the final given how they have played so far in the tournament. After their win against the Kiwis, India is now unbeaten in 10 games in this World Cup so far.
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“India thoroughly deserves to be in the final, if you look at their batting, bowling, fielding, and even their bench strength, if this team doesn’t deserve to reach the final then which team does?” Shoaib Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.
India Brutally Hammered New Zealand: Shoaib Akhtar
He further said that the Indian batters hammered the Kiwi’s bowlers with a special mention to Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer.
“India again brutally hammered New Zealand, all credit goes to Rohit Sharma as a captain. He hammers bowlers in the opening overs. If Gill stayed on the pitch he could have completed his ton. Shreyas Iyer is an amazing talent he is a guy who takes away a lot of pressure from the senior players. India deserves to be in the final” Shoaib said further.
He concluded by picking Australia as the second finalists as they backed the Men in Yellow to beat the Proteas in the second semi-final in Kolkata.
“I feel Australia will reach the final, South Africa has only one chance to bat first and put up a total of 350 runs,” Akhtar concluded.
