Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar said the Indian fans should not get excited by the prospect of playing against Pakistan as the Men in Green has a bleak team and are almost like minnows. India gave a 61-run hammering to Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Sunday in the ongoing  T20 World Cup.

India has a 8-1 record against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup history and they continued their domination on Sunday. The Men in Blue were able to post a par score of 175 runs on the board on a difficult Colombo wicket and then Pakistan were bowled out for 114 to suffer a huge loss.

Sanjay Manjrekar said on his Instagram handle, “All the hype and promotions for an India-Pakistan match and how it is such a huge draw that generates massive revenue for world cricket, is hard for me to digest. Indian fans especially have to move on. India as a nation is growing and is now world-class. The Indian team is world-class, and Pakistan is in doldrums. To still get excited for an India-Pakistan match and then be very happy when you beat a weak team, which is very close to now being minnows, we’ve got to do better than that.”

Manjrekar is hopeful that India vs Pakistan is not made a big deal one day and reckons the world cricket will be in a good stead as revenue for world cricket should not depend on one game.

“Because of the kind of progress we’ve made in cricket and all other spheres, I wish a day comes when India-Pakistan is not such a big deal. When that happens, and it’s not what the one match will generate as revenue for world cricket, I believe world cricket will be in a much healthier state,” said Manjrekar (via the aforementioned source).

“It’s really up to the fans to make that happen and not get sucked into this India-Pakistan hype because cricket-wise, this is a mismatch. As true cricket fans, the only thing we should be looking for in a match between two teams is excellence.”

India will next take on the Netherlands at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Wednesday.