Accused of chucking, Pakistan’s Usman Tariq hits back with bold ‘pressure’ warning for India

Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq, who returned with three wickets against the USA in Colombo, received online flak for his unconventional bowling action, with cricket fans and one of the former IPL batters calling him out for chucking. While ex-Indian star Ravichandran Ashwin was quick to back the under-fire off-spinner, who has been cleared twice by the ICC earlier, Tariq took matters too far by targeting India, Pakistan’s next opponent in the T20 World Cup, with a bold ‘under pressure’ remark.

The marquee India vs Pakistan T20 WC clash made headlines for a fortnight, with all of PCB, the ICC and the BCB getting involved to make this match happen amid a boycott threat from the Pakistan government. Closed-door discussions, outside pressure and fear of unbearable sanctions forced the Pakistan government and the PCB to withdraw its boycott of the India tie on February 15 in Colombo. However, Tariq feels India’s reaction to this episode indicates that they are the ones under pressure this time.

Meanwhile, for the record, Team India maintains a 7-1 lead against Pakistan in head-to-head contests at T20 World Cups.

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"I guess there will be extra pressure on them. The way they are discussing these things, it shows that maybe there will be pressure on them. But I don't really know what's going on in the media. I'm just focusing on my cricket and my practice," Tariq said after his T20 WC debut against the USA, as quoted by NDTV.

‘Just another game’

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While India’s record in the World Cups against Pakistan speaks volumes of its domination over the Men in Green, Tariq stressed how Pakistan enjoys a win rate over India across formats (Pakistan 88, India 80) overall. Tariq, who was accused of chucking by Cameron Green during the home T20Is against Australia, said he treats the high-octane India clash as just another match.

"I think the record that we note down, I guess we should note it down from where we started losing. If you look at it from the beginning, then we have a good record from the beginning. So we should count also that because those are also the title matches.

“And apart from that, the match that is coming next... obviously, all of us are focusing on one thing-that any game that comes to us, any game we play, we have to give our best. And in this way, we have to win this World Cup and just make it memorable for everyone. So it's just a normal game for me, for the team. When you're just getting that hype, or that kind of thing on your mind, obviously, it's better to keep it simple and just stick to the plans, that's it," he continued.

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