I doubt that anyone is going to ask for forgiveness for losing two more games: Aakash Chopra on Shahid Afridi’s bold statement

Shahid Afridi, the former Pakistan cricketer, recently made some bold statements, saying that the Indian team used to ask his team for ‘forgiveness’ after losing a match. The veteran stated that the Pakistan team had thrashed India, adding that he enjoyed playing against them. In the meantime, the words didn’t go down well with Aakash Chopra, the former Indian batsman, by any stretch of the imagination.

Chopra admitted that Pakistan used to have a strong unit once, courtesy the presence of Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar and others. However, he also said that the times have changed from the time when Afridi started playing until the time he hung his boots.

Pakistan’s strength was sheer talent: Aakash Chopra

“Pakistan team used to be good at one point. It is still an okay team today. But there was a time when India used to play against Pakistan at Sharjah and the balance was tilted towards the neighbouring nation. But it was not the ‘Afridi time’ that he is talking about,” Chopra told on his YouTube channel.

“Pakistan’s strength was sheer talent – from Imran Khan to Wasim Akram to Waqar Younis. Because of it, they did really well. They used to beat India, there is no doubt about that. But later, when Afridi started playing and till the time he retired, things had changed,” he stated.

He also put forth some head-to-head numbers, comparing the level of dominance of both the teams. “If you look at the stats, we played 15 Tests, each of us have won 5 Tests each. In ODIs, you have won two more games than us. The stat is 41-39 in your favour in 82 games, so well done. But I doubt that anyone is going to ask for forgiveness for just losing two more games, Chopra added.

Quoting “some of the best minds in the world”, Chopra went on to say that there’s cure for snake-bites, but there’s no remedy for misconceptions. The retired cricketer added that during Afridi’s time, the scenario was balanced and from there on it titled towards India’s favour.

Due to the cross-border tensions, India and Pakistan haven’t played a bilateral series since 2013. The Asian giants currently play only in ICC tournaments and in the Asia Cup. Barring the 2017 Champions Trophy Final in 2017, India have mostly dominated the Men in Green in limited-overs cricket.