• Source:JND
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India's legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar strongly criticized those who believed in conspiracy theories suggesting that the Indian cricket team deliberately wanted to lose their Super 4 match against Sri Lanka to prevent Pakistan from reaching the final of the Asia Cup 2023. The India vs. Sri Lanka match was closely contested, with Sri Lanka giving India a scare before Rohit Sharma's team secured a 41-run victory. Despite this, some individuals, particularly across the border, speculated about a conspiracy to eliminate Pakistan from the tournament.

Gavaskar dismissed these allegations as outrageous and expressed his disbelief at such thought processes. After Pakistan was officially eliminated from the tournament, losing the virtual semifinal to Sri Lanka, Gavaskar anticipated more conspiracy theories, but he wasn't surprised when Pakistan and its media directed their frustration towards captain Babar Azam.

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"What a tight slap on the faces of all those across the Western border who were screaming and shrieking that Bharat after being dismissed for 213 against Sri Lanka was purposely losing the game so as to deprive Pakistan of a place in the final. Did these brainless people even think of the possibility that after Bharat loses the game to Sri Lanka and then Pakistan beat Sri Lanka and the Bharat v Bangladesh game gets rained off, it was Bharat who would not have qualified for the final. So why would Bharat lose deliberately to Sri Lanka? Morons," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.

"When Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka and were knocked out of the tournament, we were expecting some more conspiracy theories blaming Bharat for the loss, but surprises never cease so they forgot everything else and concentrated on lambasting their skipper Babar Azam for their exit from the tournament."

India will play a 3-match ODI series against Australia starting on September 21. The Rohit Sharma-led side will look to try benched players in order to avoid any injuries before the all important ODI World Cup.