NEW DELHI:
Pakistan
suffered an embarrassing first-round exit from the Twenty20 World Cup after the USA-Ireland match was abandoned because of rain. This was 2009 champions earliest-ever elimination from a
T20 World Cup
.
Pakistan's campaign began with a stunning loss against the debutant USA team, a match that left fans and experts in disbelief. The team's struggles continued as they succumbed to a defeat against arch-rivals India.
Pakistan drew criticism from all quarters for their early ouster from the tournament and former India opener
Virender Sehwag
highlighted their inability to win against the first-timers and chase down 120 against India.
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"How can you blame rain? Even if you had won, you didn't deserve to go ahead. You would've lost in Super Eight stage. You wouldn't have had easier opponents there. You need to realise that you are losing to first-timers, you don't deserve to go ahead. You can't chase 120 runs against India, score 113 with wickets remaining... how can you blame the rain?" Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
The
ICC
often keeps India and Pakistan in the same group during World Cups. This decision is influenced by various factors, including the massive television audience that tunes in to watch these high-stakes matches.
By ensuring that these two cricket powerhouses face off against each other, the ICC aims to maximize viewership and generate substantial revenue from commercials. But Sehwag reckons that ICC need to rethink their strategy.
"In 2007, neither India nor Pakistan qualified for the second round. We were in different groups back then. Now, ICC will rethink on keeping India and Pakistan in a group and ensure they don't keep a team that beats them!" Sehwag said.
English (US) ·