Shoaib Akhtar replies to Virender Sehwag’s ‘Pota and Beta’ dig

The mother of all battles is just two days away. Edgbaston will be nicely lit up to host one of the greatest cricketing rivalries ever. India will be pitted against Pakistan, a side they haven’t played for 2 years in ODI cricket. Both teams will play against each other in the Champions Trophy after their epic clash in 2009, where Pakistan came up victorious by 54 runs.

Sehwag ridicules Pakistan by calling them India’s son

India is in the right frame of mind, entering the tournament at the back of a huge win against Bangladesh. During the warm-up game at The Oval in London, Virender Sehwag, who is one of the commentators for the tournament, took a dig on both Bangladesh and Pakistan. The former opener said that India is practising against Pota, before playing Beta. Pota in the Hindi language means grandson and beta means son. Sehwag addressed Bangladesh as India’s grandson while Pakistan as their son.

In the build up to the pulsating contest, Shoaib Akhtar alongside Virender Sehwag was summoned by ABP news to have a discussion about the game on Sunday. In a 30-minute long discussion, the anchor asked Sehwag, to sum up, the riveting contest in his own signature style. The 38-year old was prompt in saying that “after bashing up Pota (read Bangladesh), it is now Beta’s (Pakistan’s) turn to face the heat.”

Won’t call anyone by names

Shoaib Akhtar was asked to reply to this. The Rawalpindi Express responded in subdued fashion by saying that he respects India and his team will try his best but the results depend on the Almighty. He even said that he doesn’t like calling anyone by names, like Sehwag does, which showed that the comments did not go down well with the former fast bowler. This happens in the last minute of the 30-minute video.

The entire country is waiting for the game to start on Sunday. Pakistan are indeed a light team on paper but have known to be predictably unpredictable in the past. India just needs to turn up and do what they have been doing of late: play clinically.