Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has shared his thoughts on India’s disappointing campaign at the T20 World Cup, which saw the Men in Blue not making it to the semi-final – the first time in eight years that India failed to make the knockouts of an ICC event.
“They were the favourites to win the World Cup. And I suppose after the first game… after especially Shaheen Afridi’s first over, they never could recover. Then you see, there were a lot of talks about they concentrate on the IPL a lot more,” Akram said in a video uploaded by Sport360.
“Their players don’t play against international players as much in the other league. And probably they were right at times because very few have faced – Pakistan and India have hardly played cricket – very few have faced Shaheen, Haris Rauf or Hasan Ali.”
Akram went on saying that the fact that Indian players participate in the IPL but do not play other leagues around the world is what is preventing them from squaring off against players worldwide. Akram reckons playing only the IPL may not be the correct approach going forward and believes it is something Indian cricket must ponder over.
“When you play leagues in different countries – one or two, I’m not saying play every league – at least your players get the experience to play against the other bowlers, different pitches, different teams, different conditions,” added Akram. “So I think they (India) have to think back… IPL is the number 1 league, yes, money-wise, talent-wise but they have to allow the players at least one or two more leagues worldwide.
