Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed refused to agree with the notion that Virat Kohli’s India deliberately lost to England to hurt Pakistan’s chances of qualifying for the semi-finals of ICC World Cup 2019. Social media was flooded with speculations after India lost their group-stage match to England – the only they have lost in tournament so far- sending Pakistan on the brink. A lot of former Pakistan cricketers, in fact, had predicted that India might indeed lose intentionally to knock Pakistan out. Sarfaraz, however, dismissed the theory and said England won because they played well on that day.
“No, no, it is not right to say this. I don’t think India lost because of us. England played well to win,” Sarfaraz told reporters after returning home.
If India had beaten England in that match which they lost by 31 runs then Pakistan’s chances of qualifying would have gone up several notches. In fact The Men in Green would have qualified as they won their next two matches to finish with 11 points. But as it turned out, England, by virtue of that win against India ended up with 12 points and Pakistan were knocked out.
