Aamer Sohail had said that Sarfraz Ahmed needs to be told that he and the team have “not done anything great.” (Source: AP)
Harbhajan Singh and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly slammed Aamer Sohail for alleging that “external factors” have helped Pakistan reach the final of ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Sohail had said that Sarfraz Ahmed needs to be told that he and the team have “not done anything great.” “There is no reason for you (Sarfraz) to be so happy. We all know what happens behind the scenes,” said the former Pakistan opener.
“Don’t wish to get into the details on who won them the games. If asked, I will say that the prayers of the fans and God has won them the games. They have been brought to the final due to external factors and not based on on-field performance. The boys now need to be level-headed and focus on playing good cricket,” he further said.
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“The likes of Sarfraz (Ahmed) and his boys are used to all this. This is not the first time I’m hearing all these. And how can Pakistan influence their qualification into a final? How?,” Ganguly is quoted as saying by India Today.
Harbhajan further indicated that it may be jealousy that has forced Sohail to not credit the players for their effort. “These are all talks and I’m sure these guys are jealous,” said Harbhajan according to India Today, “They thought that Pakistan will not reach that far. That’s fine. Even I thought that they will not reach that far. They have worked really worked hard to get this far and I feel so bad when people work so hard and the ex-captains or ex-players talk bad about the team.”
Pakistan had started their campaign with a crushing defeat to India. But they bounced back and beat South Africa and Sri Lanka to reach the semi-final. There, they played hosts England, who had got out of the group stage unbeaten and were one of the favourites to win the tournament. Pakistan went on to win that match with a comprehensive eight-wicket margin. They now face India once again in the final on Sunday.
