Former Pakistan fast bowler, Wasim Akram reckons that the Indian players are negligent of playing in the limited-overs international cricket and that can be the reason behind their poor performance in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021. The legendary former pace pointed out an interesting fact that prior to the T20 World Cup, the last big international limited-overs series the senior players participated in was back in March against England.
Although the players took part in the second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 recently, no amount of league cricket can match the standards of international cricket, let alone in the World Cup, highlighted Akram.
ALSO READ: Shoaib Akhtar Feels Team India Is Divided In The Dressing Room
During a recent chat on A Sports, Wasim Akram said, “India last played a limited-overs series with all the senior players in March. Now we are in November. So that shows they are not taking those international series seriously. They think playing the IPL is enough. You play as much league cricket in the world that you want. While playing league cricket, you will find one or two good bowlers in the opposition. In international cricket, you will face all five good bowlers.”
Wasim Akram pointed out an important perspective. India did play three ODIs and as many T20Is in Sri Lanka around July end, but it was a squad filled with youngsters since the veteran cricketers were participating in the Test series in England.
Weighing in further on Sunday’s match, in which India suffered an 8-wicket loss against New Zealand and it has kept India’s semi-final chances hanging by a thread, Wasim Akram reckons to lose the toss deflated India in the first place, which further worsened when the management decided to push Rohit Sharma at No. 3.
ALSO READ: Dilip Vengsarkar Disappointed With The Body Language Of Team India
Tlking about the game, Wasim Akram said, “It wasn’t a great game. It was a one-sided game. India committed a lot of mistakes. When they lost the toss, I feel they were pushed back a little psychologically. The biggest mess-up was downgraded Rohit Sharma to 3 in a crucial, do-or-die game. The guy has got four centuries in T20Is as opener. They could have made Ishan Kishan bat at 3 too. This was the start when the panic button was pressed.”
