T20 World Cup 2022: “After losing to Ireland, England needed luck” - Mohammad Kaif explains his “best or luckiest” tweet

Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has stuck to his stance that T20 World Cup 2022 finalists England and Pakistan enjoyed better luck than other teams in the tournament. He, however, admitted that champions England were the better of the two sides when it came to all-round talent.

Just ahead of the T20 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday, November 13, Kaif took to his official Twitter handle and put up a curious post.

Sharing his thoughts on the teams that made it to the summit clash, he wrote:

“Pakistan vs England: Were they the best two teams in this World T20 or the luckiest? Just asking.”

The post created quite a buzz on social media. Asked to explain the point he was trying to drive home through the cryptic tweet, Kaif told Sportskeeda:

“They (England and Pakistan) were lucky. You need a bit of luck. England were the more complete of the two teams. They have batting, bowling and fielding. But, they were in a strong pool where they lost to Ireland.

"Three teams finished on seven points. Australia were out due to poor net run rate. After losing to Ireland, England needed luck, which they got, but they were better than Pakistan.”

Opening up on Babar Azam’s team, he candidly stated:

“Pakistan had a lot of luck going their way. They were at the bottom and then won three matches in a row and won the semis as well. They definitely had luck on their side.”

While England got into the semis ahead of Australia due to a better run rate, Pakistan sneaked through after South Africa were knocked out following their shock loss to the Netherlands.

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“They were finding it hard to give Ben Stokes a spot” - Robin Uthappa on why England were favorites for him

Another former Indian cricketer, Robin Uthappa, was least surprised by England’s victory in the T20 World Cup 2022.

He stated that Jos Buttler and Co. were favorites for him from the start, adding that they were one side that performed to potential. Uthappa commented:

“Before the tournament started, my favorite team was England. The kind of personnel they have… very good bowlers. If you look at the batting, they were finding it hard to give Ben Stokes a spot. They had the luxury of personnel. It was a well-deserved victory. They were perhaps the only team that performed to potential.”

England won the toss and bowled first in the final. They restricted Pakistan to 137/8 and chased down the score in 19 overs with five wickets in hand.