Karthik Roasts Atherton, Hussain Over Pakistan's T20 WC Exit After 'Dubai Advantage' Jab

Karthik, Hussain and Atherton were speaking on the 'Sky Sports Cricket Podcast' while delivering an analysis on the four semifinalists of the ongoing T20 World Cup, which are New Zealand, 2024 runners-up South Africa, two-time champions England, and defending champions India.

During the Champions Trophy last year, Nasser and Atherton had discussed on Sky Sports how playing all their ICC Champions Trophy matches at Dubai gave India an advantage in the form of less travel fatigue and familiarity with the conditions. India were playing all their matches of CT 2025, hosted by Pakistan, at Dubai under a hybrid model put up place by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Under this model, both teams do not visit each other's country for any ICC events because of political tensions between them due to cross-border terrorism. India went on to win the Champions Trophy title.

In the ongoing T20 World Cup, Pakistan also played their matches in the co-host nation, Sri Lanka. Pakistan did not have the smoothest group stage, winning by three wickets against the Netherlands, avoiding an embarrassment while chasing down 148 runs as a Faheem Ashraf cameo took them to the win from a spot of bother at 114/7. After a win over the USA, they succumbed to a one-sided 61-run loss to Pakistan at Colombo, despite the pitch, which suited their spinners. A brilliant win over Namibia sealed their Super Eight spot.

During the Super Eight, they faced a washout against New Zealand, which gave them a point, before a Harry Brook tonne sunk them in a chase of 165 runs despite wickets falling quickly at the other end. In their final Super Eight clash, they needed to beat Sri Lanka by 64 runs or chase down the set target in 13.1 overs, but fifties from skipper Dasun Shanaka and Pavan Rathnayake left SL just five runs short, eliminating Pakistan from the tournament and letting New Zealand into the semifinals on the basis of net run rate.

Throughout the tournament, Pakistan's batting was carried heavily by Sahibzada Farhan, with the opener being the top run-getter in the tournament with 383 runs, including two centuries and two fifties, breaking Virat Kohli's T20WC 2014 run-tally record. While bowling was pretty solid, they also had their poor moments, which cost Pakistan a semifinal spot.

Responding back to Nasser and Atherton's older comments about India's alleged Dubai advantage, Karthik offered a brutal rebuttal, calling out not only Pakistan's "genuine lack of skill" but also hilariously roasting the two co-hosts of the podcast by referring to them as "fossils".

"I expected Sri Lanka and Pakistan (for semis). Sri Lanka, because of the home conditions and because it is a side that needs a bigger cause. But that did not work out. And then I thought of Pakistan, purely because they consistently played in Colombo, stayed in one hotel, and knew the same pitches -- and both you 'fossils' felt that was the main reason why India won the Champions Trophy. By that same logic, Pakistan should have done something in this World Cup. Clearly, it works for one team but not for another, so there is a genuine lack of skill there," he said on the Sky Cricket Podcast.

As Dinesh roasted his co-hosts, they were left with no choice but to share a good laugh together after one of the funniest banter moments in cricket during a recent while.

New Zealand will play South Africa at Kolkata's Eden Gardens today, while defending champions India will take on England at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

- ANI