India Lacked Intent to Play with Spirit vs England in 2019 World Cup: Mohammad Hafeez

Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez on Monday said India did not show intent during their 2019 World Cup game against England.

Many former Pakistan cricketers said that statements made by Ben Stokes in his autobiography prove that India lost the game to keep Pakistan from qualifying for the knockout stages.

However, Hafeez said that Pakistan lost out on a berth in the semi-finals due to their own mistakes and not due to anyone else.

“Ask any cricket fan, everyone will say intent to play with spirit was not there. I don’t know about the results and who went out because of that. We played good cricket and we were out because of our small mistakes. So I can’t blame any result for that,” Hafeez, who was part of the 2019 World Cup, told reporters during a video conference facilitated by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

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“But as a fan if I see the match, I did not see the match winning intent. I felt bad for the sport. The encounter factor was missing where both teams were playing to win.

“The mistakes we made, we failed to tick a few boxes in the 2019 World Cup. But as a fan, that is my opinion about that game.”

In the match at Birmingham, India were comprehensively beaten by 31 runs after failing to chase England’s score of 337/7 last year. Pakistan missed out on a semifinal berth as a result of that game and crashed out of the tournament.