Former Pakistani speedster and TV commentator Shoaib Akhtar has come down heavily on the Indian bowling. Akhtar, who is currently covering the India South Africa T20I series as a Hindi commentator lashed out against the lackluster Indian bowling. Akhtar was highly critical of the Indians and said that barring R. Ashwin, there was no genuine wicket taker in the ranks for the men in blue. Akhtar also criticized India’s selection policy for the games.
“There is no depth in the bowling attack. Once Ashwin bowls his quota of four overs, there isn’t anyone, who could run through opposition batsmen. They don’t even have the fast bowling to run through the batting line-up. Indian team’s drawback is fast bowling and the second spinner,” Akhtar told a news channel.
The mercurial former pacer also said that the absence of Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav was a mighty blow for the hosts. “With Mohammed Shami unfit and Umesh Yadav not selected, they didn’t have any inspiration. The Indian team I believe needs to change their approach towards how they play T20 cricket and Dhoni should check the combinations that he is trying out. Ajinkya Rahane should play instead of Ambati Rayudu,” said Akhtar.
Akhtar was also critical of the playing combination of the Indians. “I believe they could have alter the timing of the matches which would have suited them and perhaps the result could have been different. I believe if they play three spinners during ODIs which is their strength, they would win the ODI series,” said Akhtar.
He further had extremely stern words for the Cuttack crowd, which crossed all the limits of decency during the second T20I. “I can understand the anger amongst fans and I am not saying that it is not justified when your team plays that badly. But throwing bottles is no way to vent your anger. Indian cricket has an image and these kind of incidents sends a very wrong message to the cricket community,” he concluded.