Shahid Afridi also explained why India could not win the World Cup after 2011.
India last won a World Cup tournament under the captaincy of MS Dhoni in 2011. Since then, the Indian cricket team has not been able to lift any World Cup trophy, and the wait now continues with the Men in Blue’s exit from the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
England defeated Team India by 10 wickets in the second semi-final at Adelaide Oval to crush their hopes of lifting the T20 World Cup 2022 on Thursday (November 10), and they are now set for the title battle with Pakistan at the iconic MCG on Sunday, November 13.
Following India's failure to advance to the final of the ICC event, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said that the Men in Blue couldn’t win the major trophy since 2013—the year Dhoni led the side to the ICC World Championship trophy – because of poor leadership.
The legendary all-rounder also slammed Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, saying he wasn’t really impressed with it at all. He further said that India needs a captain like Dhoni or Sourav Ganguly.
Shahid Afridi said on Pakistan's Samaa TV: “These things will now be noticed, when you win these things are brushed under the carpet. Today India lost and everyone's reflecting on the loss. But if we look closely, the Indian team needs a leader after Ganguly and Dhoni.”
He further noted, “Someone, who leads the team from the front. After Dhoni, they tried Virat but they didn't achieve outstanding results. Right now, Rohit is the captain and we still don't see any commendable performances.
A leader's role is extremely important, their performances are very crucial. IPL is played for over two months, a lot of players get the opportunity and despite that if India are failing to build a team, then in my opinion, they have a lot of work to do.”
Afridi signed off by saying, “The board needs to think, where are we making mistake, because they've invested a lot of money in cricket and a lot of players have also emerged. If you don't go out and win big tournaments, then it is a sign of worry.”