Representational image of fans before India vs Pakistan World Cup 2015 match. In the end, both teams crashed out of the tournament.
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A section of Pakistani fans and media 'celebrated' India's World Cup exit on Thursday. Defending champions India lost to Australia by 95 runs in a semifinal match in Sydney ending a seven-match winning streak in World Cup 2015. The Pakistanis, who had squeezed into the knockouts, lost to Australia in the quarterfinals.
The defeat in Sydney left a billion Indians heartbroken but many in Pakistan were quite elated. Top media houses joined their readers in celebrating India's exit even as World Cup coach Waqar Younis analysed Pakistan's failure at the world stage. (Also read: Pakistan fans stage mock funeral after team's exit | Indian fans burn posters, smash TVs after team's exit )
"Seven reasons why Pakistani's should be happy about India's defeat," was an article published by the website of Pakistan's national newspaper, Tribune. The extent of the joy could be ascertained from the fact that the first reason was "revenge" - India had walloped Pakistan by 76 at the Adelaide Oval in the first Pool B match. The other 'significant' reason was an end to the popular 'Mauka Mauka' ad campaign which had poked fun at Pakistani fans while celebrating each of India's seven straight World Cup 2015 wins.
(Note: The above Twitter account is not Shoaib Akhtar's official and is not verified.)
Several fans also pointed out how Pakistan had fought Australia tooth and nail in the quarter-finals while India, according to them, had surrendered helplessly. "So this was the first match played by Indians with the real good team," wrote Ilyas - a fan - on Dawn.com. "Pakistan lose the match vs Australia but with respect."
Pakistan team did show some spirit against Australia with a probing bowling attack led by Wahab Riaz. The team's overall performance though left a lot to be desired. Pakistan struggled into the knockout stage but some of their cricket enthusiasts hardly seemed to care as they made sarcastic comments against Team India.
"We won't give it back ....... Knock Knock ..... The Australians took it," wrote one such fan - Huzaifa Akhtar. "Mauka Mauka Muaka... Kahan gya Mauka?" wrote another netizen.
Of course, not all Pakistan fans are rejoicing India's defeat. Many have rued the fact that no Asian team made it to the final while a few others even went to the extent of praising Dhoni and his players for their performances in the league matches.
"Feel for India as they were on the roll wining all previous matches. But the best side won on the day," wrote Parwez Akhtar in Dawn.com.
The bottomline is that World Cup dreams lie shattered both sides of the border and fans are not amused.
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