The Indian cricket team’s semi-final defeat to England in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final dampened the cricketing mood in the Asian sub-continent as many fans were looking forward to a potential Indo-Pak final. Shoaib Akhtar, one of the greatest Pakistani cricketers to ever play the sport, posted a video on social media criticising the Indian team after Rohit Sharma & Co. were handed a humiliating defeat by England. Akhtar even said that Pakistan were looking forward to facing India in the summit clash but that won’t be possible anymore.
Akhtar, in his assessment of the Indian team for the way they played against England, lambasted the quality of cricket the team produced at the Adelaide Oval. Akhtar also questioned why Yuzvendra Chahal didn’t play a single game for the team in the T20 World Cup.
“It’s a very embarrassing loss for India. They played terribly and they deserved to lose. They didn’t deserve to qualify for the finals. India were beaten very badly. Their bowling was exposed very badly. These conditions are helpful for fast bowling and India don’t have an express pacer. I don’t know why they didn’t play Yuzvendra Chahal in a single match. The team selection for India is confusing,” he said.
Akhtar even said that the Indian team lacked the aggression required to win matches on the day.
“It was a really bad day for India as their heads went down after they lost the toss. When England batted their first five overs, the Indians had their arms up in the air. At least, India should have tried to fight, maybe the bowlers could’ve bowled round the wicket and delivered a few bouncers. There was no aggression from the Indian side,” he added.
In conculsion, Akhtar said that Hardik Pandya could soon become the captain of the Indian team in the shortest format.”There is a lot to think about for Indian cricket and now Hardik Pandya is an emerging captain for New Zealand and he has a chance of being permanent,” the retired pace bowler concluded.
