Suresh Raina Claims India Would’ve Crushed Pakistan In WCL Semifinal If They Had Played

In a recent cricket tournament called the World Championship of Legends (WCL), the India Champions team did not play against the Pakistan Champions team. This tournament was a T20 competition where many old international cricket players took part.

India team skipped matches against Pakistan team

The India team, led by Yuvraj Singh, was the defending champion. But they chose not to play against Pakistan in the group match and also in the semifinal. Because of this, the Indian team had to leave the tournament early.

Pakistan got a free entry into the final match. But in the final, they lost badly to South Africa Champions. Suresh Raina, who played for the India Champions, praised South Africa’s performance in the final match.

He was especially happy with how AB de Villiers batted. “What a knock by @ABdeVilliers17 in the final, absolutely smashed it,” Raina wrote on X.

Raina believes India would have won easily

Raina also posted that the India team also could have done something great in the semifinal. But they didn’t play for a special reason.

“Had we played, we would’ve crushed them (Pakistan) too, but we chose our nation above everything else,” Raina posted.

Pakistan was the only team in the tournament that didn’t lose any match before the final. They won four out of five matches. The only match that didn’t happen was against India. South Africa had only one loss in the group stage, and that loss came against Pakistan.

AB de Villiers leads South Africa to big win

In the final, Pakistan batted first and scored 195 runs for 5 wickets in 20 overs. Sharjeel Khan played well and scored 75 runs from 44 balls. Wayne Parnell and Hardus Viljoen took two wickets each for South Africa.

But the South African team made the chase very easy. AB de Villiers played a very fast and strong innings. He scored 120 runs from just 60 balls. He hit 12 fours and 7 sixes. JP Duminy also played well and scored 50 runs from only 28 balls.

South Africa reached the target in only 16.5 overs and won the final by nine wickets.

PCB bans players from future WCL matches

After all this, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) gave a big statement. They said that their players will not play in any future WCL tournaments.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announces that it is issuing a blanket ban from future participation in the World Championship of Legends (WCL),” said the PCB in their statement.

ALSO READ: India vs England 5th Test Day 5 Weather Forecast: 60 Percent Chance Of Rain To Disrupt Play?