IPL Can’t Match Int’l Cricket Standards As Full Strength India Last Played T20Is In March: Wasim Akram

Nov 2, 2021 at 4:52 PM

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IPL Can’t Match Int’l Cricket Standards As Full Strength India Last Played T20Is In March: Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram believes India’s negligence towards playing limited-overs international cricket seems to be the reason behind their poor show in the ongoing 2021 T20I World Cup. The legendary former pacer, who holds the record for most ODI wickets, pointed out an interesting fact that prior to the T20 World Cup, the last big international limited-overs series the senior players played was back in March against England.

Although the players took part in the Indian Premier League recently, no amount of league cricket can match international cricket standards, let alone in the World Cup, highlighted Wasim Akram.

Wasim Akram. (Photo: Twitter/ @shoaib100mph)
Wasim Akram. (Photo: Twitter/ @shoaib100mph)

Wasim Akram: India Thinks Playing The IPL Is Enough

Like many cricket stars, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram is also not amused with India’s poor show in the T20 World Cup 2021.

“India last played a limited-overs series with all the senior players in March. Now, we are in November. So that shows they are not taking those international series seriously. They think playing the IPL is enough.

“You play as much league cricket in the world that you want. While playing league cricket, you will find one or two good bowlers in the opposition. In international cricket, you will face all five good bowlers,” Akram said on A Sports following India’s defeat to New Zealand.

India vs England
India vs England- Image Credit: Twitter

Wasim Akram makes a valid point. India did play three ODIs and three T20Is in Sri Lanka around July end, but it was a squad filled with youngsters, mostly comprising of youngsters who did well in IPL since the senior players, mostly Test specialists, were participating in the Test series in England.

While the squad which won the limited-overs-ODI, T20Is series at home in March 2021 against England, saw the likes of Prasidh Krishna, Krunal Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, and Ishan Kishan debut, the series against Sri Lanka saw Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana, Krishnappa Gowtham and Chetan Sakariya playing for the first time for Men in Blue.

Wasim Akram: Biggest Mess Up Was Downgrading Rohit Sharma Who Has 4 T20I Tons As Opener To No. 3 In Do Or Die Game

Weighing in further on Sunday’s match, in which India lost to New Zealand by eight wickets to keep their semi-final chances hanging by a thread, Wasim Akram reckons to lose the toss deflated India in the first place, which further worsened when the management decided to push Rohit Sharma at No. 3.

“It wasn’t a great game. It was a one-sided game. India committed a lot of mistakes. When they lost the toss, I feel they were pushed back a little psychologically. The biggest mess-up was downgraded Rohit Sharma to 3 in a crucial, do-or-die game. The guy has got four centuries in T20Is as opener. They could have made Ishan Kishan bat at 3 too. This was the start when the panic button was pressed,” Wasim Akram pointed out.

Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma | AFP

The Indian batsmen Ishan Kishan (4 off 8 balls), Rohit Sharma (14 off 14 balls), KL Rahul (18 off 16), Virat Kohli (9 off 17), Rishabh Pant (12 off 19) failed when it mattered most. Ishan Kishan opened the batting along with KL Rahul while Rohit Sharma dropped to No. 3, but even that move didn’t work. Ishan Kishan scored just 4 runs from 8 balls, while Rohit Sharma made 14 from as many balls in India’s below-par total of 110 for 7 in 20 overs.

Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli all perished cheaply against New Zealand as India lost their first four wickets with only 48 on the board within 10 overs. As a result, India ended up posting 110 for 7 in stipulated 20 overs, in which they didn’t effectively score runs in nine of those overs (54 dot balls). Worse, they were just able to hit a single boundary between overs 8 and 15 when two Kiwi spinners-Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner, were in operation.
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