NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar cried foul and refused to take his team's latest defeat against India in the Asia Cup Super 4 in stride. Instead, he blamed India for not playing Pakistan when the team featured star players like himself, Wasim Akram, and Waqar Younis.

In an attempt to downplay Pakistan's flop show against India, Akhtar pointed out that India still trail in head-to-head ODIs and did not play Pakistan in the 1990s when the team was full of star players.

Akhtar further added that India is a very good side, but one cannot deny that Pakistan is no longer the same as it used to be. He said it is not just Pakistan that suffers from the decline, but world cricket as a whole, as the rivalry takes a backseat.

Talking about the match, Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill shared a blistering 105-run stand for the opening wicket to set-up India's six-wicket victory.

Abhishek led the charge with a brilliant 74 off 39 balls, marking his first fifty of the tournament, while Gill bounced back from a quiet league stage to contribute a fluent 47 off 28 balls, making the chase look effortless.

Abhishek and Gill's effort drew praise from skipper Suryakumar Yadav who called them "fire-and-ice" combination.

"It's like a fire-and-ice combination. They complement each other really well. And that's what I want to see. If someone is batting brilliantly, the other can take the back-seat and rotate the strike. It was required today to have a very good start. And they did (provide that)," Suryakumar told mediapersons after India's six-wicket win in the Super 4 game in Dubai on Sunday.