Ex-Pakistan cricketer Abdul Razzaq stoops to new low; says, 'Great for cricket that India lost World Cup final'

livemint.com:

ICC Men's World Cup 2023 and then apologizing for his controversial remark, former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq is in the news again. And this time too, for all the wrong reasons. Razzaq launched a fresh tirade against the Indian cricket team after their defeat to Australia in the World Cup final.

Though several current and former cricketers have come out in support of the India team, Razzaq called India overconfident, accusing India of tampering with the pitch in Ahmedabad to their own advantage. "Indians were over-confident. Cricket won and India lost.

Had India won the World Cup, it would have been a very sad moment for the game. They used conditions to their advantage and I have never seen such a bad pitch for any ICC final before. It's great for cricket that India lost," Hindustan Times quoted Razzaq as saying on the Pakistani TV show 'Hasna Mana Hai'. And again, this time too, he tried to prove his point by highlighting the two very contrasting semi-finals.

He started by saying that the first one between India and New Zealand at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium proved to be a high-scoring game, while the second knockout in Kolkata's Eden Gardens was a little slower. He also accused that the surface used for the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium was something different though. As per him, any team – pointing at India – that tried to make conditions more favourable towards them does not deserve to win anything, let alone the World Cup.

"Had India won, we would have felt very bad, because they were utilizing the conditions, one semi-final they scored 400, the other team scores 350. In the other semi-final, 220-230 runs were scored. Then in the final 240 runs were scored.