After winning their Super 4s matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, India qualified for the Asia Cup 2023 final, however, the Men in Blue lost their final Super 4s clash against Bangladesh by six runs. Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar reacted to India's "embarrassing" loss to Bangladesh on social media calling it a big relief for his country.
Batting first, Bangladesh registered a decent total of 265 runs as skipper Shakib Al Hasan scored his personal best of 80 runs off 85 balls in the Asia Cup. Bangladesh youngster Towhid Hridoy scored a half-century while all-rounder Nasum Ahmed scored 44 runs against India.
Despite Shubman Gill's well-fought century, Team India failed to reach the target as they were bowled out for 259 runs with one ball remaining. After Gill's 121, all-rounder Axar Patel was the second-highest scorer for India with 42 runs off 34 balls including two sixes and three fours. However, a lack of support from the other end led to Axar's dismissal when India were approaching the target.
Shoaib Akhtar took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and talked about India's loss to Bangladesh. He said, "India has lost the game from, can't say arch-rivals but rivals, Bangladesh. Embarrassing loss." He added, "Bangladesh smashed India. It would have surely brought a feeling of relief for Pakistan including me that India has lost the game against Bangladesh. This is a wake-up call for India."
Watch the video here:
While India were the first team to qualify for the Asia Cup 2023 final, Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in their must-win battle on Thursday to qualify for the final. India and Sri Lanka will lock horns on Sunday, September 17 in Colombo for the Asia Cup 2023 final as Rohit Sharma will look to win his second Asia Cup title as a skipper in the ODI format.
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