Wasim Akram hailed Team India's complete show after they stormed into the final.
Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram believes that Indian captain Rohit Sharma deserves more headlines and applauds the way he is providing solid starts to his team in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
The opener is in stunning form with the bat in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023, amassing 550 runs in his 10 innings for the Men in Blue so far. The right-hander hasn't cared about individual milestones and played an attacking brand of cricket to give India fiery starts at CWC 2023.
Even in the World Cup 2023 semifinal against New Zealand, Rohit played a brilliant knock of 47 runs off 29 balls with the help of four sixes and four fours at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 15.
Notably, India defeated New Zealand by 70 runs to qualify for the CWC 2023 final.
Wasim Akram said on the A Sports show ‘The Pavillion’, “It was a complete performance in every aspect of the game against New Zealand and the skipper leading from the front. Uska naam zayad nahi aata kyunki 100 nahi kiya usne ya 150-200 nahi kiye (People don’t talk much about Rohit because he hasn’t got many hundreds).”
The Pakistani legend continued, “But the kind of start he provides is what we have been speaking about. He batted a strike rate of 162 and piled up 82 in 10 overs, that was the stepping stone. Look at the shots he played. The pressure certainly mounts on the opposition. And Gill played amazingly well. He has been consistent and he is the future of the Indian team after Rohit and Virat.”
Akram further said that New Zealand bowlers looked meek in the semifinal, as he hailed the stunning batting show for the hosts. Notably, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer both smashed centuries, while Shubman Gill made 80* against the Black Caps.
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The former pacer said, “The New Zealand bowling attack seemed pedestrian but credit has to be given to India’s quality batting. People spoke about the pitch change and all, but the way they are playing, agar tum unheeding akhaade par bhi khila doge to wo utna hi score karenge (even if you make them bat in some wrestling arena in the countryside, they will score the same amount of runs).”
He signed off by saying, “They have that kind of confidence and a leader who is leading from the front. That’s the beauty of Rohit Sharma. Once he starts, he doesn’t stop. He’s not worried about his fifty or hundreds.”
(With News18 Inputs)