India failed to win the World Cup 2023 final, and former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq seems elated about it. Having made headlines earlier for his uncalled-for remarks on Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai, Razzaq has again hogged the limelight for his take on how cricket benefited from India’s loss in the World Cup 2023 final to Australia.

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Upon entering the World Cup final with a 10-match unbeaten streak, including beating most teams in one-sided affairs, India failed to get past the Aussies on the day it matters the most. Batting first after losing the toss, India managed an under-par score of 240 on the board. Though they had Australia on the backfoot with three quick wickets inside the first Powerplay, Travis Head’s second World Cup hundred helped Australia cross the winning line with six wickets remaining.

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Razzaq, present as a guest on a TV show, shared his views on the unpredictable World Cup outcome.

Asked by the anchor what he felt about the result, Razzaq said, “Cricket won, and India lost. Had India won the World Cup, it would have been a very sad moment for the game. They used conditions to their advantage, and I have never seen such a bad pitch for any ICC final before. It’s great for cricket that India lost.”

Razzaq accused the BCCI of influencing the playing conditions in the World Cup final, citing references from how good pitches were on offer in the semis related to the one India and Australia played in the final.

The former T20 World Cup winner with Pakistan, Razzaq said that had India won the title, Pakistan would have felt bad.

“Had India won, we would have felt very bad, because they were utilising the conditions, one semi-final they scored 400, and the other team scored 350. In the other semi-final, 220-230 runs were scored. Then in the final 240 runs were scored. That means there is something wrong (with the conditions). 

“There should be fair pitches and a fair atmosphere, both teams should have balance. Today, also India took advantage. Had (Virat) Kohli scored 100, then India would have won the World Cup.”

Nonsensical remarks from ex-cricketers

Not only Abdul Razzaq, but former Pakistan cricketer Hasan Raza, in a TV chat, also accused the Indian board of tampering with the new balls.

Such remarks came on the back of Mohammed Shami’s whirlwind spells in his first few matches, wherein he returned with four wickets in almost every outing. 

While Shami ended the tournament as the highest wicket-taker with 24 scalps from seven matches, Virat Kohli registered the most runs for a batter, hitting 765 from 11 outings, including three hundreds and six fifties.

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