Former Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram lashed out at Team India for their poor run in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021, saying that they don’t take international cricket seriously and think IPL is enough.
Team India is not having the greatest of times in the T20 World Cup 2021. The Virat Kohli-led side's chances of qualifying for the semi-finals were severely dented after displaying a poor performance against New Zealand.
After a 10-wicket hammering against Pakistan, everyone expected the Virat Kohli-led side to stage a dominant comeback but this wasn’t the case as they yet again failed to rise on the occasion and were at the receiving end of an 8-wicket thumping loss.
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Speaking on A Sports, former Pakistan speedster Wasim Akram pointed out that full strength Team India last played a limited-over series in March and after that they are playing in T20 World Cup, which depicts that they don’t take international series seriously and think IPL is enough.
Akram said no amount of league cricket can match the standards of international cricket as in league cricket team will have only one or two quality bowlers while in international cricket all the five bowlers will be good.
"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 said.
While talking about India’s loss to New Zealand, Akram said that the Virat Kohli-led side committed a lot of mistakes. He pointed out that demoting Rohit Sharma to no. 3 in a crucial do-or-die encounter was the biggest mistake they made.
He added that they could’ve sent Ishan Kishan to bat at 3 but not allowing a guy to open who has four centuries as an opener in T20Is was where the panic button was pressed.
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"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," he said.
For Team India to qualify for the semi-finals now, they need to win all the remaining three matches by big margins and their chances will also depend on the result of other teams as well. The Virat Kohli-led side will next take on Afghanistan on 3rd November at Abu Dhabi.
(A Sports inputs)
