‘India will return home after the semi-finals, they’re not that good' - Shoaib Akhtar makes bold prediction for T20 World Cup 2022

The T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 stage has seen a lot of twists and turns already and there hasn’t been any shortage of drama so far in the campaign. Rain has played spoilsport on few of the occasions; however, it did not affect the India-Pakistan game at the MCG, which was under high threat of being washed out. The fans were hopeful of a thrilling encounter and there was much more in stock for them.  

Pakistan posted a total of 159 for 8 in their 20 overs after Rohit Sharma opted to bowl and India chased down the score in the very last ball on the back of a mind-boggling performance from Virat Kohli. The star batter remained unbeaten on 82 off 53 balls to help India recover from 31 for 4 with the help of stunning 113-run partnership alongside Hardik Pandya. With 16 needed off the last over, the game was in Pakistan’s hands until India snatched it.

India went on to win their next encounter against Netherlands comfortably while Pakistan did not recover from the loss to the men in blue and were handed an unexpected defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe. After two losses, their chances of making to the semi-finals looks bleak at the moment.  

Meanwhile, despite India currently leading their group, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has predicted that both India and Pakistan do not have the goods to go beyond the semi-finals. He noted that the current Indian side will return home alongside Pakistan by stating “Tees Maar Khan”. 

Here's the video of Shoaib Akhtar's statement

Meanwhile, Akhtar also came hard at Babar Azam for his captaincy skills and termed him as a 'poor captain' in a video on his Youtube Channel. He feels that Babar needs to bat at number three instead of opening after the disappointing performance in the tournament so far.