It’s been more than a week since India defeated England in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup in Guyana, avenging their 10-wicket defeat to the same side two years back at the same stage. The Rohit Sharma-led side also defeated South Africa last Saturday to clinch the T20 World Cup title in Barbados. Following Afghanistan’s crushing loss to South Africa in the other semi-final, former England captain Michael Vaughan had accused the organisers for favouring India, questioning the scheduling of the tournament.
Vaughan took to social media to highlight that the Afghanistan players had faced a flight delay while travelling to Trinidad, having played their final Super Eight match of the tournament a day prior.
He also lashed out at the ICC for disrespecting Afghanistan, while also putting the blame on the alleged India-centric scheduling.
“So Afghanistan qualified for the WC semi, winning in St Vincent on Monday night .. 4 hr flight delay on Tues to Trinidad so no time to practice or get accustomed to a new venue .. utter lack of respect to players, i am afraid,” Vaughan had written in a post.
Now, former India head coach Ravi Shastri has given a befitting reply to Vaughan over his allegations of the tournament being rigged for India, as far as the scheduling is concerned.
During a recent interaction, Shastri took a jibe Vaughan, questioning if his “colleague” ever lifted a World Cup trophy.
“Michael Vaughan can say what he wants. Nobody in India cares. Let him sort out the England team first. He should give advice on what happened to the England team in the semifinal. India are used to lifting Cups. I know England have won twice, but India have won four times. I don’t think Michael’s lifted a Cup ever. So think twice. He is a colleague of mine, but that’s my answer to him,” Shastri told Times Now.
Speaking on Suryakumar’s much-debated catch in the final, Shastri silenced the haters, saying: “Sour grapes. And go and check the record books after five years. The name India will be engraved on it.”
Topics mentioned in this article
