Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram praises Hardik Pandya and said that the all-rounder was alone responsible for giving the team a respectable total of 168 runs.
Wasim Akram Slams Rohit Sharma
The former batter also blamed India’s slow start for their 10-wicket defeat against England in the 2nd semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide.
“Their start was slow and they could not recover from that. 190 probably would have been a good total on this wicket. They accelerated late, if it wasn’t for Hardik Pandya, India would not have even got a respectable total,” Akram told Pakistani channel A Sports.
He was also quite straightforward in his assessment of Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s performance. Akram also said that Virat Kohli might have scored a fifty in the match but his innings was too slow as he had taken 40 balls.
“Their captain (Rohit) looked out of touch and then of course Virat got his fifty but he took 40 balls to do that. That was the difference,” Akram opined.
Winning the toss England choose to field first where Indian openers failed to lay the expected foundation where India loses their first wicket for 9 runs.
Soon after KL Rahul’s dismissal, Rohit too lost his wicket for 27 runs while the much-expected Suryakumar Yadav scored just 14 runs and returned to Pavillion. Post the top order failure, Hardik and Virat Kohli joined hands and scored a 61 runs partnership which leads India to score 168 runs at the end of the 20 overs.
After the loss, India skipper Rohit Sharma pointed out the reasons behind the loss. On the other hand, England scored the target without losing a wicket where Jos Buttler scored 80 runs while Alex Hales scored 86 runs.
Post the World Cup defeat India will tour New Zealand where they will play 3 T20I matches and as many as ODI matches between November 13 to November 30.
England will now face Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 final on November 13 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne.
