Television, Social Media, Fans... You All Already Made India The Winner Of World Cup: Wasim Akram Slams Fans And Media

While advising heartbroken and disappointed Team India fans to move on, former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram has pinned the blame on them as well as social media and television channels for declaring India as World Cup champions even before the final.

Team India entered the final as the firm favourites after thoroughly dominating the competition. The Men in Blue won all of their nine league games that included a six-wicket win over Australia. In the semifinal, the Rohit Sharma-led side thrashed New Zealand by 70 runs to storm into the final. Not many were expecting a loss for Team India in the final against Australia despite the latter being on a 8-match winning streak themselves.

And in the end, most of the predictions turned out to be wrong as Australia thoroughly outplayed Team India to clinch a record-extending sixth World Cup title. The Pat Cummins-led side thrashed the hosts by six wickets to win the title-decider. Australia bowled out India for a modest total of 240 runs and chased it down in 43 overs.

Wasim Akram slams fans and media:

Following Team India’s loss, Wasim Akram has said that while having high expectations from the Men in Blue was natural, declaring them as champions even before the final was not correct. He also stated that it would not be easy for the fans to get over the heartbreaking loss in the final.

“I can understand that as a nation it will be tough to get over it because your team played so well throughout the tournament. They won 10 matches on the trot, there was consistency. But television, social media, fans… you all already made India the winner of World Cup.

“You accept your mistake too, I’m sorry. You increased the hope of the people because they were playing so well. It’s not entirely your fault. They were playing very good cricket. But it came to just one bad game. Credit goes to Australia,” Wasim Akram said on Star Sports.

Speaking further, Wasim Akram said that India’s loss in the final came as a shock before saying that Pakistani fans are yet to forget the loss in the 1999 World Cup final. Incidentally, Pakistan had also lost the final against Australia.

“First of all, the Indian team played really well. It feels like a shock (that they lost in the final), they are down but it’s alright. I still get asked about the loss in the 1999 World Cup final. When will our fans forget this?

“The fans of India and Pakistan have an elephant’s memory. It’s been 30 years since we lost that final and they still ask me why I opted to bat after winning the toss. So, don’t take social media seriously, half of it is just drama.

“As a nation, you have to move on, there’s another World Cup coming in six months,” he said reminding the fans about the upcoming T20 World Cup.