India beating Pakistan in Pakistan? Shreyas Iyer’s classy reply to journalist-OxBig News Network

Star India batter Shreyas Iyer gave a classy reply to a Pakistan journalist’s clever question after India’s dominating win over their arch-rivals in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on Sunday, February 23. India hammered Pakistan by six wickets as Virat Kohli continued his dominance over the Men in Green by slamming another century.

As a result, the Men in Blue comfortably chased down the target of 242 in 42.3 overs to almost seal their place in the semi-final of the tournament. Following India’s win, a Pakistani journalist asked Shreyas Iyer if the victory would’ve tasted even better had they played the match in Lahore or Karachi.

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The India batter immediately quipped that he has never played in Pakistan and hence doesn’t know how it would’ve felt. However, he mentioned that he relishes the challenge of a game against Pakistan and every victory against them is sweet.

“I’ve never played a single game in Pakistan so I don’t know about that. But at the end of the day, it was a neutral venue for both teams, it’s a different kind of challenge. We also don’t play much in Dubai but at the end of the day, any victory against Pakistan is sweet. Because it’s always competitive and it’s a different challenge with external pressure from all around. I really enjoyed it, it was my third game against Pakistan. It was fun,” said Iyer in the post-match press conference.

Pakistan almost out of semi-final race

Pakistan are the official host of the Champions Trophy as the tournament is being held across three venues in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi. However, India are playing their matches at a neutral venue in Dubai due to the uncordial political relations between the two nations.

The move hasn’t gone down well with several pundits and former cricketers who’ve slammed India for not visiting their country. Meanwhile, following the loss against India, Pakistan are almost out of the ICC Champions Trophy as they earlier lost against New Zealand in the opening fixture. They need a miracle to stay alive in the competition and hope that the results go their way to progress to the semi-finals.