'Sentiments of Pakistanis are really high' - Shoaib Akhtar feels questions will be raised if New Zealand loses to Afghanistan

Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has cautioned everyone of a storm on social media if New Zealand loses to Afghanistan on November 7. The game is of a huge significance for both the teams and also India who have made a stunning comeback. They want Afghanistan to beat the Kiwis in order to make it to the semi-final of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021. If that happens, India will then have to beat Namibia on November 8 by a certain margin to finish second in their group.

But social media has witnessed a lot of ‘fixing’ related tweets, especially from Pakistan fans ever since their arch-rivals India has registered two big wins against Afghanistan (66 runs) and Scotland (8 wickets with 81 balls to spare). These wins have solved the NRR issue for Virat Kohli and Co. and now they wait on the result of the game between New Zealand and Afghanistan.

If Kane Williamson and his troops win, they go through but if they lose, India will have a great chance to turn their World Cup campaign around. But Akhtar reckons the Pakistan fans will take social media by storm if that happens given what happened just before the World Cup. New Zealand’s second string side pulled out of the whole Pakistan tour minutes before the start of the first ODI citing security threats.

Emotions are already running high for them and Shoaib Akhtar reckoned no one will be able to stop the accusations on social media. “India’s fate is now in New Zealand’s hands. If New Zealand lose [to Afghanistan] a lot of questions will be raised, I’m warning you. I’m afraid that it will become another trending topic. I don’t want to get into any controversy but the sentiments of Pakistanis are really high at the moment as far as New Zealand is concerned,” Akhtar said while speaking on his Youtube channel.

I think NZ are better than AFG, says Akhtar

The 46-year-old, however, cited that New Zealand are a better team than Afghanistan indirectly backing them to qualify for the semi-finals. But he also understands that anything can happen on the day and if Afghanistan script a historic win, fans in Pakistan may make ‘fixing’ a trending topic again.

“I think New Zealand are better than Afghanistan. If God forbid, they don’t play well and lose, that will be a problem. Nobody will be able to stop social media if it happens and we have to take that into consideration,” Akhtar further said.