Aakash Chopra uses numbers to hit back at Shahid Afridi over 'Pakistan thrashed India so much' comments
Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi had said Pakistan thrashed India so much during his playing days that India used to ask for forgiveness after losing matches.
In Short
- Aakash Chopra slams Shahid Afridi over remarks on India-Pakistan bilateral records
- There is a cure when a snake bites you, but there is no cure for misconceptions: Chopra
- Afridi wanted to say something else, and he said something else: Chopra
Former India batsman Aakash Chopra has used statistics and numbers to prove Shahid Afridi wrong over his comments on India-Pakistan head-to-head records.
Afridi, speaking on a YouTube show, said Pakistan thrashed India so much so that the 2-time World Cup winners used to 'ask forgiveness' after losing matches.
"Unhe to theek-thaak mara hai humne. Itna mara hai unhe ki match ke baad maafiyan mangi hai unhone. (We've thrashed them a lot. I believe we've beaten them so much that they used to ask us for forgiveness after the match)," Afridi had said.
The comments have certainly not gone down well with Aakash Chopra who has taken a sly dig at Afridi, saying 'there is no cure for misconception'.
Chopra used numbers to point out that things changed during Afridi's times, saying Pakistan were no more dominant as they were in the 80s wherein they won 19 off their 30 meetings in ODI cricket.
"Some of the best minds in the world have said that there is a cure when a snake bites you, but there is no cure for misconceptions," Chopra said in his YouTube show.
"During Afridi's time, the scenario was balanced, in fact, it was starting to tilt in favour of India. And if we talk about the current scenario, there is quite a difference.
"If you look at World Cup records, you will find India have gone quite ahead. You always remember the 2017 Champions Trophy final, but even in that tournament, India had beaten Pakistan once in the tournament. India's dominance is of a different kind. When India travel to Australia, they beat Australia. When Pakistan travel to Australia, they lose by quite a fair margin. There is a lot of difference between the two teams at this time."
Doubt anyone is going to ask forgiveness for losing 2 more game: Chopra
Pointing out that Pakistan enjoyed a slight advantage in ODI records during Afridi's time, Chopra said the former Pakistan all-rounder must have wanted to say something and ended up saying something else.
"Pakistan team used to be good at one point. It is still an okay team today. But there was a time when India used to play against Pakistan at Sharjah and the balance was tilted towards the neighbouring nation. But it was not the 'Afridi time' that he is talking about," Chopra said.
"Pakistan's strength was a sheer talent - from Imran Khan to Wasim Akram to Waqar Younis. Because of it, they did really well. They used to beat India, there is no doubt about that.
"But later, when Afridi started playing and till the time he retired, things had changed.
"If you look at the stats, we played 15 Tests, each of us have won 5 Tests each. In ODIs, you have won two more games than us. The stat is 41-39 in your favour in 82 games, so well done. But I doubt that anyone is going to ask for forgiveness for just losing two more games.
"But when you talk about T20I, the format in which you were really good, India lead the head-to-head contest by 7-1. Isn't the story told backward? Maybe, he (Afridi) wanted to say something else, and he said something else. I am really surprised."