Mohammed Azharuddin cops backlash for bashing India women's team that won Silver at CWG 2022
Azharuddin expressed his dismay at the Indian team's loss in the CWG 2022 T20I event finale against Australia.
Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin had a crude reminder about the nature of cricket fandom on social media, as he was criticised brutally for his remarks against the Indian women's team on Sunday (August 7).
India missed out on a great opportunity to beat Australia in the gold medal encounter of the women's T20I event played at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022.
At 118/2 in their run-chase, Harmanpreet Kaur & company looked set to pull off a memorable win in Edgbaston. But they collapsed under pressure and fell gutwrenchingly short of Australia's 161/8 by 9 runs.
Reacting to India snatching a defeat out of the jaws of victory, Mohammed Azharuddin took to Twitter to express his dismay at the way the team batted in the closing stages of the game. But his remarks didn't go down well with angered Indian fans, who vented out their frustration on him by reminding him of his dark past.
Mohammed Azharuddin faces fans' wrath for criticising Indian women's team
Mohammed Azharuddin deemed India's batting effort in the concluding half hour of the gold medal CWG final "rubbish", with players lacking "common sense" according to him. The former skipper said India "gave away" a victory on the platter.
Rubbish batting by the Indian team. No common sense. Gave away a winning game on a platter. #INDvsAUS #WomensCricket #CWG22
— Mohammed Azharuddin (@azharflicks) August 7, 2022
Azharuddin's comments didn't go down well with the fans of the Indian women's team and they unleashed their wrath on him, reminding him of the time of he was involved in the spot-fixing scandal that rocked Indian cricket hard at the turn of the century.
Here is how some of them reacted:
Perhaps, but at least they didn’t fix it. https://t.co/HoQBmgdhc3
— Shaunak Agarkhedkar (@ShaunakSA) August 8, 2022
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Ada paavi.
— Shadow (@mchellap) August 8, 2022
The architect of many of our 90s kids' saddest days throws shade at Indian women's team 🤦🏾♂️ https://t.co/RhsQ3Np2gX
Says the guy who captained a team that specialised in this, the moment Sachin got out. https://t.co/0hZDKrE3pY
— Willow Specialist (@WillowSpeciali1) August 8, 2022
At least they didn't try hard to do it intentionally https://t.co/N6Zk48MRLD
— Want to be Pampered Account (@PlateauRolling) August 8, 2022
They didn’t fix the game ! https://t.co/gfcE1ubCGR
— Shibashish Rudra (@rudra_s) August 8, 2022
Something about glass houses and stones.. I fail to remember https://t.co/qjNeZNjvSw
— Halli Billy (@halli_billy) August 7, 2022
Ex cricketers being distasteful with their remarks, absolutely normal day in Indian cricket. https://t.co/RSwlNa7Sc2
— Megha (@kyayaarmegha) August 7, 2022
Atleast they played "fairly"
— Patriotic Ashish 🇮🇳 (@jontyypenasar) August 7, 2022
Some can't relate https://t.co/OSU3pDElhi
Look who is talking. Give us those matches back which you have intentionally lost just to fill your pocket. https://t.co/mg5F0Oc4Rr
— Ruplekha¹¹💛🙂 (@MukherjeeRuplek) August 8, 2022
The Indian team will be deeply disappointed to have lost another marquee final to the Australian side, having also gone down against them in the T20 World Cup 2020 final in Melbourne.
The pain of this defeat would linger on for some time as India had the key to the winning door in their hands for the better part of the run-chase but collapsed when it mattered the most.
The skill gap between the two sides became evident under pressure, with Australia managing to keep their Indian counterparts at bay in the final stages.