'He Gave a Clear Message That He's There With the Team': Akhtar Lauds PM Modi's Gesture After IND's Loss to AUS

Pakistan’s pace legend Shoaib Akhtar lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s gesture of consoling the Indian players after their loss to Australia in the ICC World Cup 2023 final on Sunday in Ahmedabad. The men in blue made it to the grand finale as the best unit of the group stage, registering 10 wins on the trot. However, they lost the momentum in the final, and so did the trophy. The Aussies defeated India by 6 wickets to win the record sixth world title.

While speaking with Zee News, Akhtar heaped praise on Rohit Sharma, stating that the latter had great intent throughout the tournament. The former cricketer said the Indian captain didn’t care about his personal milestones and focused only on one thing – winning the World Cup for the country.

“He [Rohit Sharma] played really well and led the team superbly. He just missed the trick on the last day. Otherwise, he thoroughly deserved to win the World Cup. I’m still thinking why he couldn’t win the title. He had the right intent throughout the tournament. He didn’t think about personal milestones. Instead, he was focused on winning the World Cup for India. I genuinely feel for him,” Akhtar told Zee News.

The pace legend further slammed the social media trolls for targeting the family members of the Indian cricketers.

“Players dream about winning the World Cup in front of their wives and kids. And damn those people who are people who are trolling and abusing the Indian players’ families. How low can they stoop? They were there to support them and you are targeting them,” he added.

Akhtar also reserved massive praise for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who visited the dressing room and consoled the heartbroken members of Team India.

“I appreciated the gesture of your Prime Minister. He gave a clear message that he is there with the players. It was a huge gesture. This was a message that India as a nation is standing beside the Indian cricket team. As simple as that. This is a really emotional time for them. He took them (players) as his children, as kids and he lifted their morale to tell them that they played well. This was a great gesture by the PM,” Akhtar concluded.