'Lot of players were crying, few locked themselves up...': How Pakistan's Asia Cup loss to India sparked rumours of rift
Hindustan TimesPakistan batter Imam-ul-Haq claimed in a recent podcast that the rumours of rift in the Pakistan dressing room began after the team suffered a humiliating loss against India in the Asia Cup 2023. Pakistan then went to script a forgettable outing in the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they lost against Afghanistan, and later suffered an embarrassing group-stage exit in the T20 World Cup. India beat Pakistan by 228 runs in 2023 Asia Cup Pakistan cricket, which had dominating white-ball teams, with players from both formats ruling the ICC ranking charts, has been going through a turmoil which Imam, speaking to Cricwick, traced it back to the 2023 Asia Cup match against India in Sri Lanka. Imam added the shattered confidence after that India game sparked a major downfall which saw Pakistan failing to make the semis in the ODI World Cup, and suffering a group-stage exit in the 2024 T20 World Cup, where they had lost to the USA.