{"id":12809,"date":"2025-09-15T03:18:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T03:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/15\/shoaib-akhtar-ridicules-pakistan-after-asia-cup-defeat-to-india-we-are-playing-club-level-cricket-cricket-news\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T03:18:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T03:18:57","slug":"shoaib-akhtar-ridicules-pakistan-after-asia-cup-defeat-to-india-we-are-playing-club-level-cricket-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/15\/shoaib-akhtar-ridicules-pakistan-after-asia-cup-defeat-to-india-we-are-playing-club-level-cricket-cricket-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Shoaib Akhtar Ridicules Pakistan After Asia Cup Defeat To India: ‘We Are Playing Club-Level Cricket’ | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Shoaib Akhtar slammed Pakistan after their Asia Cup loss to India, citing poor quality and professionalism.<\/h2>\n
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Shoaib Akhtar tore into the PAK team after their disappointing seven-wicket loss (X, AP)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar tore into the Pakistan cricket team after their humiliating seven-wicket loss to India at the Asia Cup on Sunday, describing the squad as one that lacks the quality to compete with top international sides.<\/p>\n

India Dominates From Start To Finish<\/strong><\/p>\n

India\u2019s bowlers dismantled Pakistan\u2019s batting order, restricting them to just 127\/9 in their 20 overs. Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and all-rounder Axar Patel led the charge, tightening the screws with disciplined spells.<\/p>\n

Pakistan\u2019s innings was saved from complete embarrassment only by Shaheen Shah Afridi, who struck a spirited 33 off 16 balls, including a handful of sixes, to drag the score to some respectability.<\/p>\n

But the Men in Blue made light work of the chase. Suryakumar Yadav\u2019s 37-ball 47 guided India to the target inside just 15.5 overs, sealing a comfortable victory that highlighted the gulf in class between the two rivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are playing club-level cricket”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Akhtar, never one to mince words, expressed his frustration at what he saw as a lack of skill, fight, and professionalism in Pakistan\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a disappointing performance on all fronts. I think Saim Ayub was the pick of the bowlers. And it seems like we (Pakistan) have found ourselves a proper spinner finally, at 35 years of age,” Akhtar said with heavy sarcasm.<\/p>\n

The Rawalpindi Express went on to highlight the gap between Pakistan and world cricket\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, we got to witness and understand that there\u2019s a vast difference in the quality of cricket that Pakistan plays compared to the rest of the world. Most of the other teams play a high level of cricket, while we are playing club-level cricket.”<\/p>\n

Batting Collapse Under Fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

The former fast bowler reserved his sharpest criticism for Pakistan\u2019s batters, who once again collapsed under the pressure of an Indian bowling unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur quality of batting was on full display \u2014 or rather, the lack thereof. Suryakumar Yadav was just playing sweeps and cuts to his heart\u2019s content, having his way with our bowlers,” he fumed.<\/p>\n

Akhtar went on to ridicule the fact that Afridi, a lower-order bowler, outshone the top order with the bat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are going to tell me that playing the Indian spinners was very tricky, then why was Shaheen Shah Afridi able to hit 33 off 16 balls, with a handful of sixes?”<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly Better Than Associates”<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his final assessment, Akhtar declared that Pakistan simply did not belong in the same league as cricket\u2019s top nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are lacking quality. We are not a team that can compete with the likes of South Africa, India, England, or Australia. We\u2019re just a bit better than the associate members, is all.”<\/p>\n

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Siddarth Sriram<\/a><\/p>\n

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term…Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term… Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n
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September 15, 2025, 08:34 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

News<\/a> cricket<\/a> Shoaib Akhtar Ridicules Pakistan After Asia Cup Defeat To India: ‘We Are Playing Club-Level Cricket’<\/span><\/div>\n
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Last Updated:September 15, 2025, 08:34 IST Shoaib Akhtar slammed Pakistan after their Asia Cup loss to India, citing poor quality and professionalism. Shoaib Akhtar tore into the PAK team after their disappointing seven-wicket loss (X, AP) Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar tore into the Pakistan cricket team after their humiliating seven-wicket loss to India at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}