'Ever lifted a cup?': Ravi Shastri hits back at Michael Vaughan's 'India-centric T20 WC' criticism
Vaughan questioned the tournament's scheduling, insinuating that India had been given an unfair advantage.
The former India all-rounder and head coach Ravi Shastri strongly criticized Michael Vaughan for his comments regarding India's supposed advantage in the scheduling of the recently-concluded T20 World Cup 2024. Vaughan's claim that India had an unfair advantage due to Guyana being their fixed semifinal venue was met with fierce opposition.
India's victory over England in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup in Guyana was a sweet revenge for their previous 10-wicket defeat at the same stage two years ago. Led by Rohit Sharma, the Indian team went on to defeat South Africa in the final last Saturday in Barbados, securing the T20 World Cup title.
In the wake of Afghanistan's defeat to South Africa in the other semi-final, former England captain Michael Vaughan accused the organizers of showing favoritism towards India. He questioned the tournament's scheduling, insinuating that India had been given an unfair advantage.
Vaughan took to social media to bring attention to the fact that the Afghanistan players experienced a flight delay while traveling to Trinidad. This delay occurred after they had just played their final Super Eight match of the tournament the day before.
In a scathing post, Vaughan criticized the ICC for showing disrespect towards Afghanistan. He also placed blame on the alleged India-centric scheduling for the unfortunate situation.
"So Afghanistan qualified for the WC semi, winning in St Vincent on Monday night .. 4 hr flight delay on Tues to Trinidad so no time to practice or get accustomed to a new venue .. utter lack of respect to players, i am afraid," Vaughan had written in a post.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has responded decisively to Vaughan's allegations of the tournament being rigged in India's favor, particularly regarding the scheduling.
"Michael Vaughan can say what he wants. Nobody in India cares. Let him sort out the England team first. He should give advice on what happened to the England team in the semifinal. India are used to lifting Cups. I know England have won twice, but India have won four times. I don't think Michael's lifted a Cup ever. So think twice. He is a colleague of mine, but that's my answer to him," Shastri told Times Now.