Former India batsman Virender Sehwag said Pakistan did not deserve to qualify for the Super 8s of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
The Men in Green’s chances of advancing to the group stage hung in the balance after losing to the United States and India in their first two matches. They were unable to defend 159 runs against the United States and eventually lost the game in the Super Over. In the next match against India, they failed to chase 120 runs despite needing 48 runs off the same number of balls with 8 wickets in hand at one point.
They finally opened their account with a victory over Canada and needed the United States to lose their final group match for a chance to advance to the next round. However, the United States’ last group match was eliminated and that helped them seal their place in the next round, while Pakistan were eliminated.
While Pakistan might feel aggrieved by the defeat, Virender Sehwag has said that they did not deserve to go through due to their poor performances in the previous games. Virender Sehwag, who does not mince his words, also said that Pakistan would have also suffered defeats in the Super 8 stages if they had managed to qualify.
“How can you blame the rain? Even if you had won, you didn’t deserve to go ahead. You would have lost in the Super Eight stage. You wouldn’t have had easier opponents there. You have to realize that you are losing.” For beginners, they are not worth continuing further. They can’t chase 120 runs against India, score 113 with wickets remaining… how can they blame the rain? Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
ICC to reconsider keeping India and Pakistan in one group: Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag also said that the ICC will now reconsider the possibility of keeping India and Pakistan in the same group in an ICC tournament. Both teams were also in the same group in the 2016, 2021 and 2022 editions.
“In 2007, neither India nor Pakistan qualified for the second round. We were in different groups back then. Now, ICC will reconsider the idea of keeping India and Pakistan in one group and ensure that they are not left with a team that I defeated them.” Sehwag said.
From Group A, India and the United States have qualified for the Super 8. The other teams qualified for the next phase are Australia, England, the West Indies, Afghanistan and South Africa.
