Sanju proves that 'prediction' wrong; fans troll former Pak cricketer

KOLKATA: India marched into the semifinals of the T20 World Cup after defeating West Indies by five wickets in the Super Eight match on Sunday. A heroic batting performance by Kerala star Sanju Samson led India to victory. He scored 97 runs off just 50 balls.

Earlier in the tournament, India had lost their first Super Eight match to South Africa, failing to perform well in both batting and bowling. After that defeat, many critics said India would not reach the semifinals. Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir had also expressed a similar opinion.

In a television interview, when asked whether Pakistan would reach the semifinals, Amir replied that it was not the main issue but claimed that India would not qualify for the semifinals. However, with Sanju’s match-winning innings, India has now secured a place in the last four. England will be India’s opponent in the semifinal.

After Amir’s prediction proved wrong, Indian cricket fans took to social media to troll the former pacer. Many fans joked that Amir might now predict that India will not win the World Cup, and that this prediction too would fail.

Chasing a huge target of 196 set by the West Indies, India secured the win in the final over. Sanju started aggressively and later adjusted his game to support his teammates. However, India faced some pressure after Abhishek Sharma (10), Ishan Kishan (10), and captain Suryakumar Yadav (18) were dismissed quickly.

Tilak Varma then boosted the scoring rate with a quick 27 off 15 balls. After Tilak’s dismissal, Hardik Pandya scored 17 runs. In the end, Sanju played with patience and finished the match in style by hitting a powerful six and a four in the final over to seal India’s victory.