Shoaib Akhtar Criticizes Pakistan After Humiliating Defeat to India

India-Pakistan matches are among the most anticipated clashes in world cricket. However, the latest face-off offered nothing close to a contest. At the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, Pakistan’s batting and bowling both collapsed, paving the way for India’s dominant 7-wicket victory with 25 balls to spare.

Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar did not hold back in expressing his frustration, directly criticizing his own country. “The current Pakistan players can’t even perform at club level cricket. There’s no point expecting more from this team,” he stated bluntly.

Speaking on Pakistan’s dismal batting against India, Akhtar added, “Whether they batted first or second, Pakistan could not score more than 130 runs. And that’s exactly what happened.” Yet, the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ tried to highlight a silver lining, noting, “It can’t be called a completely disappointing performance. The positive is that we are seeing Shaim Ayub performing as a spinner. That’s good for the team.”

He also criticized Pakistan’s lack of strategy, saying, “The quality of our cricket has been exposed. There is no planning, no running between the wickets. We don’t even have quality batsmen. Look at India’s Suryakumar Yadav—he sweeps, cuts, and takes singles efficiently. In terms of quality, we lag far behind. We are just slightly better than our associate teams.”

Batting first after winning the toss on Sunday, Pakistan collapsed early. Sahibzada Farhan’s 40-run innings offered some hope, but it was slow-paced and insufficient. In the end, a blitz from Shaheen Shah Afridi (33 off 16 balls) helped Pakistan reach 127 runs. However, the target proved trivial for India, as Suryakumar Yadav’s commanding batting guided his team to victory in just 15.5 overs.