Harbhajan's explosive reply to ex-PCB chief Najam Sethi's ‘India afraid to play Pakistan’ jibe amid Asia Cup

Days after Najam Sethi launched a tirade against the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for not relocating the India-Pakistan Asia Cup Super-4 match from Colombo to Hambantota, Harbhajan Singh has shared an explosive message for the former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The ex-Indian cricketer took a dig at Sethi, who recently insinuated that Team India is 'afraid' to square off against Babar Azam's men in Pakistan.

Even though Pakistan are co-hosting the continental tournament, Team India is playing their matches of the Asia Cup on Sri Lankan soil. However, Sri Lanka's notorious weather conditions disrupted the proceedings of several Asia Cup games in the ongoing edition of the continental tournament. In his fiery tweet that sparked a debate on social media, Sethi questioned India's reservations about playing the Green Army in Pakistan.

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"BCCI/ACC informed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) today that they had decided to shift the next India-Pak match from Colombo to Hambantota because of rain forecasts. Within one hour they changed their mind and announced Colombo as the venue. What’s going on? Is India afraid to play and lose to Pakistan? Look at the rain forecast," Sethi said on X (formerly known as Twitter) last week.

‘I have a message for Najam Sethi’

Launching an attack on the ex-PCB chairperson through his YouTube channel, Harbhajan said that India have given a befitting response to Sethi by hammering Babar and Co. in the rain-marred Super 4 encounter in Colombo. "I have a message for Najam Sethi. He had said that Team India is afraid of playing against Pakistan, I hope he saw the kind of performance that Team India put up, a record win. I hope he must have got his answer, so keep your boys ready for the next game," Harbhajan said.

How India hammered Pakistan

Record-time winners India thrashed Pakistan by 228 runs to register their biggest win over Babar's men in the 50-over format. Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli and ex-vice-captain KL Rahul slammed match-winning centuries to help India post a gigantic total of 356-2 in 50 overs. After Kohli and Rahul demolished the Shaheen Shah Afridi-starrer bowling attack, spin wizard Kuldeep Yadav bagged a memorable five-wicket haul as Pakistan folded for 128 in 32 overs.

'Bowling was too weak'

"From Pakistan's perspective, they got nothing out of this match except for getting tired. Bowling was too weak, even the state of the batting was same, very poor batting performance. No Pakistani batter showed that they had the ability to play against quality seam and swing bowling and score runs," he added.