Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan paceman, has taunted India following their stunning collapse to their lowest ever Test score against Australia on Saturday, labelling their performance “embarrassing.”
India encountered a collapse of almost unbelievable proportions on Saturday, on the third day of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. Resuming on their overnight score of 9-1, India finished on 36-9, with Mohammed Shami retiring hurt. No player in the line-up managed to reach double digits, and the performance meant India surrendered their first-innings lead of 53 and Australia won by eight wickets.
The result sent shockwaves through the cricket world, but it also gave some rival fans some sweet schadenfreude. It seems Akhtar, the one-time express pace bowler from Pakistan, India’s arch-rivals, was feeling it more than others.
“I woke up & saw the score 369. I couldn’t believe it,” he first tweeted. “Then i washed my eyes and saw the score 36/9. I couldn’t believe it either & went back to sleep. Video aa rahi hai (video will follow).”
In the video, Akhtar appears to taunt India for their “disgraceful” collapse. “Embarrassing loss. Embarrassing batting. The world’s greatest batting side … crumbling down. India even broke Pakistan’s own record – 36 all out (36-9), this is a disgraceful performance,” he said in a video posted on Twitter.
“It’s terrible. But, I’m very happy they broke Pakistan’s record. It happens in cricket. Bear it, bear the criticism. This is going to happen to you now.
“Might, mighty India … come crashing down, crumbling down. This is bad.”
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) December 19, 2020
The record Akhtar was referring to came in 2013, when Pakistan were bundled out for 49 by South Africa in Johannesburg, with Dale Steyn returning 6-8.
However, India’s lowest Test total, till today, was the 42 they made at Lord’s in 1974, when following on after England had made 629 – Geoff Arnold and Chris Old share nine wickets between them as India underwent a dramatic collapse.
