Virender Sehwag’s Tweets During The Tournament Hurt Me, Says Shoaib Akhtar
Nov 2, 2023 at 3:34 PM
Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that the tweets made by Virender Sehwag during the tournament targeting Pakistan hurt him a lot.
Sehwag’s tweet earlier in the tournament weren’t nice, it hurt me a lot, said Shoaib Akhtar while speaking with Aaj Tak in the post-match analysis show.
The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ felt that the tactical blunders committed by Virat Kohli cost him the title against Pakistan. India suffered a massive 180 run loss at the hands of their arch – rivals at the KIA Oval, London. The win was a massive shocker to the Indian fans and also many experts in the fraternity who pitted India as the firm favourites to win. Akhtar conceded that Kohli should have played Umesh Yadav in the XI at the cost of one spinner to boost their chances.
“Umesh Yadav shouldn’t have been dropped. I still believe he could be useful. Virat Kohli committed a blunder.”
Batting first Pakistan piled up 338/4 with the help of Fakhar Zaman’s maiden century and solid knocks from Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali. India had a tough time in the second innings and was quickly reduced to ashes by Mohammad Ami who bowled a terrific opening spell that saw Indian reliable top three – Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli – depart for cheap scores. This dented the chase fatally.
“The scoreboard pressure is always there when the opposition posts in around 340 runs. Chasing such total proves to be difficult. Amir’s spell was very crucial. Pakistan bowling has much more athletes now.
Earlier, the spinners received some flak for being too defensive with their approach. Ravichandran Ashwin, especially, was criticised for being too flat in trajectory and unorthodox with his line.
At the start, Jasprit Bumrah bowled with too much complacency and conceded unnecessary runs apart from a life to Fakhar Zaman in the 4th over of the match.
“There was too much expectation from the spinner. The spinners were very defensive. Ashwin did not try anything different than the stock ball. There were too many mistakes from the Indian side.”
Akhtar concluded with expressing unhappiness for India’s defeat. He felt that the Indians had everything in their favour but they failed to execute their plans properly.
“I was very unhappy with the Indian team. They had all the qualities to succeed.”
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