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Pakistan National Cricket Team performances in recent years were not up to the mark. Shadab Khan, a top-ranked all-rounder of the nation, mentioned in a podcast that Pakistan cricket team’s obsession with India matches could be a reason behind their downfall.
In the recent past, in most of the multinational events, the Pakistan cricket team started their campaign on a promising note, but could not convert the momentum into a trophy-winning march.
Shadab Khan raises question over the Pakistan cricket team's mindset in World Cups
Shadab Khan, a spin-bowling all-rounder who has represented the national cricket team in multiple ICC World Cups and other multi-nation events, felt that because of a lack of focus, they failed to convert their hard-earned momentum into a trophy-winning moment.
Khan talked about the mindset of the team when they went to play in a World Cup. The 27-year-old mentioned that when a team went to play in a World Cup, the team’s target should be to win every match in the competition, not a particular match.
For Pakistan, the thing was different when they took part in the title race. Shadab Khan hinted that instead of keeping focus on the entire event, they mostly put their focus on their fixtures against their arch-rival India.
“If you go to play in the World Cup, you want to win the whole World Cup. If you go to play against India, you just don't want to lose. So we relate a lot of things to that,” the spin bowling all-rounder said in a podcast.
Pakistan still had the chance to do well in the World Cup after the India match in 2026
He further mentioned that losing a match against India is always a big deal for them, but still, as there were multiple other teams in the tournaments, Pakistan could still progress by doing well in the matches against different teams.
“If you lose a match against India, you lose the whole World Cup. You did well, you did badly, that's it. Although I used to think that even after that, we still had chances to win the World Cup,” he added.
In February this year, Shadab Khan caught the headlines as he fired back at the former cricketers who criticized the national side for being defeated by India by a 61-run margin in the T20 World Cup 2026. Former Pakistan cricketers like Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Yusuf were amongst the former cricketers who went berserk against the national side.
Shadab Khan rekindled his rift with Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Yusuf
Shadab opined that they all have their legends, but for him, the Pakistan playing combination in ’90 was very special for him.
“But obviously, all these things changed because of an Indian match. My purpose was to say that, okay, we all have legends. I don't think there can be a better team than 90. Just like they were individual performers. If you talk about 99, I don't think there has been a bigger team than that on paper. I don't think there can be a bigger team than 99 in the future,” he said in the same podcast.
🔴 THE INDIA OBSESSION RUINS PAKISTAN WORLD CUP 🤯
— Sam (@cricsam02) July 19, 2026
Shadab Khan🎙️: The goal is to win the World Cup, not just beat India. But after losing to India, people act as if the World Cup is over. We still had a chance, but that one defeat changed everything. pic.twitter.com/1QDUOcQQky
