IND vs PAK: Aakash Chopra Hits Out At Fakhar Zaman, Says 'It Seemed Like He Had Come On A Tourist Visa'

Former India batsman, Aakash Chopra hit out at Fakhar Zaman after his poor performance against India in the Super Fours match of the Asia Cup 2023 on Monday (September 11) at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and said that it seemed like the Pakistani opener came to Sri Lanka on a tourist visa.

In the second innings, Fakhar Zaman was dismissed at 27 runs from 50 balls by Kuldeep Yadav. Pakistan needed to chase 357 runs to win the match but Kuldeep Yadav led the Indian bowling attack and scalped five wickets in his eight-over spell and gave away 25 runs.

In the high-voltage match between India and Pakistan, Virat Kohli was named the player of the game after he played a 122-run knock from 94 balls with a strike rate of 129.79.

While speaking on his official YouTube channel, the 45-year-old former player praised Kuldeep Yadav for his stellar five-wicket haul in the second inning and dismissed the Men in Green at 128 runs.

“Shardul Thakur came and dismissed Mohammad Rizwan and then Kuldeep Yadav. He took as many as five wickets. Pakistan are weak against the leg-spin for some reason, don’t know why. They tend to struggle against leg-spinners.

“Kuldeep is any case a left-arm left-arm leg-spinner, so the problems increase even further. They were destroyed. Eight wickets fell, and two guys didn’t come to bat – Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. It was a defeat that you don’t forget easily,” Aakash Chopra said.

…because Bumrah was bowling and the keeper was catching the ball repeatedly: Aakash Chopra on Fakhar Zaman

Aakash Chopra said that Imam-ul-Haq struggled from the beginning of the match and got an outside edge when Jasprit Bumrah picked his wicket.

The 45-year-old then criticised the Pakistani opener, Fakhar Zaman and said that it felt like he came on a tourist visa since every time Bumrah was bowling, it was going directly on the palms of the wicketkeeper since Zama was leaving the ball repetitively.

“Jasprit Bumrah started it. Imam-ul-Haq, who was struggling at the start, got an outside edge, and a good catch was taken in the slips. It seemed like Fakhar Zaman had come on a tourist visa because Bumrah was bowling and the keeper was catching the ball repeatedly.

“Then Hardik Pandya came and dismissed Babar Azam. Now that’s a question – we say our players will be judged by how they fare against Australia or Pakistan, then why not Babar Azam? He still does not have even a single ODI fifty against India. So he is struggling a little bit against India,” he added.

India squared off against Sri Lanka in the fourth Super Fours match of the Asia Cup 2023 on Tuesday (September 12th) at 3:00 PM IST.