Former India batsman Aakash Chopra has slammed Pakistan players for suggesting that India lost deliberately to England in the 2019 World Cup.
The debate regarding India's performance against England has once again heated up after England all-rounder Ben Stokes questioned their intent in his book titled 'On Fire'.
In his book, Stokes said that he was surprised with India's intent in the group-stage match but nowhere has he suggested that India lost deliberately.
After Stokes' questions, former Pakistan players once again started saying that India lost deliberately against England.
"I mean think about it and have some shame. Waqar Younis, despite being the brand ambassador for the ICC at that time, he gave a statement during the World Cup saying that India threw the match away on purpose. I mean seriously," Chopra said on his Youtube channel.
"I can understand if the partnership between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma did not make sense to Stokes or if he was confused by Dhoni's approach towards the end. But he never said that India deliberately lost the match. Former Pakist cricketers are openly saying that India lost deliberately and ICC should fine them. How can you think like that? It was more important for India to top the group at that time," he added," he added.
In the round-robin stage match against England in Birmingham in the 2019 World Cup, India failed to chase down the massive target of 338 and fell short by 31 runs.
That was the only game that India lost in the premier tournament last year before the semifinal loss against the Kiwis.
India's chasing approach of the massive target was criticised by many, in particular of wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni, including the fans at home.
As soon as Stokes mentioned Dhoni's lack of intent in his book 'On Fire', Pakistan fans started saying that India deliberately lost the match to knock out their neighbours.
However, Stokes clarified that he never said India lost deliberately and some people were twisting his words.
Pakistan had lost its first group stage match against West Indies by a whopping margin in the 2019 World Cup and this in turn affected their net run-rate and it can be a viewed as a big reason for the team not making it to the semi-finals.
( With inputs from ANI )
