Picture Credit: Twitter
India and Pakistan once again played a thrilling match in their respective Super 4 stage opener at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (4 September). While it was India who won the group stage encounter, Pakistan clinched the Super 4 match. The Babar Azam-led team defeated India by five wickets. Mohammed Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz played beautiful innings to push their team over the line.
Meanwhile from India, Virat Kohli played a fabulous inning as the star batter scored 60 runs off 44 balls and helped India post 181 for 7 in the 20 overs. India got off to a great start as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul stitched a half-century partnership in just 26 balls. However, they lost a few quick wickets and had to change their approach. While India posted 93 runs in the first 10 overs, they could only manage 88 runs in the last 10.
The quick wickets India lost owing to its new approach where everyone is expected to fire from the first ball they face, resulted in India finishing 20 to 25 runs short of their expected score. Talking about the same former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has criticized India's approach and said that he does not understand what kind of cricket the team wants to play.
Akhtar first said that he had already warned that Pakistan can make a comeback anytime. The 47-year-old then talked about India's new batting approach.
“I had told the Indians and many of my friends not to be so happy. Pakistan will make a very strong comeback and they will ruthlessly beat India. But India should not lose its heart. They need to decide what is the final XI that they would pick. Who is your future? Rishabh Pant, or Dinesh Karthik? Is it Hooda, or Bishnoi? What is your final XI? Identify your Playing XI first. India’s team came across a very confusing selection for me and I don’t know why,” Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.
“I don’t understand what style of cricket India wants to play because whoever is coming, is just hitting. Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, and Rohit Sharma who is not in form is also hitting. As is Rishabh Pant, Hardik is too. See, someone has to anchor the innings. KL Rahul has to play till the end like Rizwan,” added Akhtar.
