S. Sreesanth, a former fast bowler for India, has made a bold claim: Pakistan would never be able to defeat the Men in Blue in an ICC competition. Even India’s C squad can defeat Pakistan’s starting XI, claims Sreesanth.
On October 14, in the 2023 World Cup match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Team India crushed Pakistan by seven wickets. With the victory, they kept their ODI World Cup winning streak against their bitter rivals intact.
India and Pakistan have met eight times in the One-Day International World Cup, starting in 1992, with the Indian cricket team winning all the contests. Even in the Twenty20 World Cup, Pakistan have only defeated India once – in Dubai during the 2021 edition.
Sreesanth made the following remark when analyzing India’s dominance over Pakistan:
“Mickey Arthur said we’ll meet in the final. I don’t think Pakistan can ever beat India in an ICC trophy and or in any other event considering the team they have. Even our C team can beat Pakistan’s main XI. Make an IPL XI of players who are not playing, even they can defeat the Pakistan team.”
S Sreesanth
He also addressed Arthur’s remarks on the lack of Pakistani supporters at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
“Pakistan cannot even dream of playing in such a big stadium. We gave them a chance, but if you play like that, you won’t get such changes again.”
S Sreesanth
Pakistan, which was sent to bat after losing the toss, fell apart, going from 155/2 to 191 all out. Rohit Sharma, the team’s captain, used 63 balls to get 86 points, helping India reach the goal in 30.3 overs.
“An India-Pakistan series is not going to be competitive at all” – Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir, a former India opener, previously voiced his displeasure with Pakistan’s performance in the World 2023 match against the Men in Blue.
He claimed in an interview with Star Sports that an India-Pakistan bilateral series [if it were to take place] would not be competitive.
“If you see the results, Pakistan used to hammer India like this for a long time. However, for the last many years, India have dominated. This is bad for sub-continental cricket. We always used to say that if we have an India-Pakistan series, it will be competitive. An India-Pakistan series is not going to be competitive at all because there is a massive difference between the two sides.”
Gautam Gambhir
India currently leads the 2023 World Cup points standings after winning three of their first three games. With two victories and a defeat, Pakistan sits in fourth place.