Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan hit back at Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, for taking a dig at the Indian team on Twitter. Responding to the jibe, Pathan accused Sharif of seeking happiness from India’s failures instead the success of his own nation.
What is the story here?
India took on England for a semi-final match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on Thursday, 10 November. After scoring 168 runs whilst batting first, India could not turn up with the ball as the Three Lions secured a 10-wicket defeat. Following India’s defeat, Shehbaz Sharif took a dig at Rohit Sharma’s team by tweeting “So, this Sunday, it’s: 152/0 vs 170/0.”
What does Sharif’s tweet mean?
Incidentally, this Thursday was only the second instance where India had suffered a 10-wicket defeat in a T20 World Cup game. The only team who managed to produce a triumph of this magnitude against the men in blue happens to be Pakistan.
In T20 World Cup 2021, Babar Azam’s team chased down a target of 152 runs without the loss of any wickets. Hence, Sharif had used the scores registered against India by Pakistan, from a year ago, and England, from the last match, to mock the Indian team.
What did Irfan Pathan say?
The former Indian pacer highlighted the ‘difference’ between the two nations by claiming, unlike India, Pakistan derive pleasure from the failures of other teams. He tweeted:
“Aap mein or hum mein fark yehi hai. Hum apni khushi se khush or aap dusre ke taklif se. Is liye khud ke mulk ko behtar karne pe dhyan nahi hai,” (This is the difference between us. We seek happiness from our success, while you derive pleasure from other’s failures. Concentrate on the betterment of your nation.)
Is there any prelude to this Twitter battle?
Notably, Pathan had sparked another Twitter debate only a few days ago. A section of the Pakistani fanbase had reportedly trolled the Indian fans after their team qualified for the final by beating New Zealand.
Following the incident, the 38-year-old tweeted “Padosiyon jeet ati jaati rehti hai, lekin GRACE apke bas ki baat nahi hai,” (Neighbours, wins and defeats are a part of the game, but you will never be able to inculcate grace).
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