In the wake of Pakistan’s victory over Australia, India would stand a chance to qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy, and this is exactly what the Pakistani pacer desires.
Speaking to a news station Shoaib expressed his thoughts saying, “I would like to see India qualify for the semi-finals because their presence will make the tournament more interesting and colorful and we might even end up with a Indo-Pak final which could be a super boost for one-day cricket.”
Pakistan’s present squad for the Champions Trophy is devoid of the bowler who, however, expects India to beat West Indies by a comparatively larger margin than the Aussies and thus enter the semi-finals. He added, “There is no doubt that at the moment India is short on confidence and Pakistan is high on confidence. But India can change things. India are capable of beating the under strength West Indian side by a margin of more than 100 runs. And if they qualify for the semi-finals I think we will see a totally different Indian team in the knockout stage.”
Speaking of the situation where Indian fans would end up cheering for their arch rivals to win, Akhtar said that it was rather ironic, and joked, “This is why they say cricket is a funny old game.”