Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram has hit hard at Bangladeshi batters following the team’s defeat against Pakistan on Sunday. The Pakistan legendary cricketer said that if he were Bangladesh’s coach or captain, he would have made sure that all the players in the team would consult a psychologist. His remark came on the back of Bangladesh’s batting unit’s dismal performance in a do-or-die clash against Pakistan.
“Bangladesh have to blame themselves. They should. If I was a captain of Bangladesh team or the coach of Bangladesh team, I will make sure these guys will see psychologists. Because at one stage, Shanto was on 54 and things were going well then,” Akram told A Sports’ show ‘The Pavilion’.
“They were 73 for 2 and I thought they’ll get to 160. But then Shanto stepped out and played a weird shot off Iftikhar and was bowled. If you had kept on taking singles, the score would have reached 155 comfortably,” he added.
Akram also criticized the Bangladesh batters for taking on Shaheen Afridi, who was brought into the attack only to pick wickets. The 56-year-old felt that the batters should have only dealt in singles against Afridi.
“In an international level, when you see a certain bowler was coming to bowl and you know that the opposition captain has brought him to take wickets, that’s where you don’t play a shot. You try to rotate the strike in that particular over but the Bangladesh players made up their minds to hit him and hit Shaheen only.”
Bangladesh lost their last Super 12 match against Pakistan on Sunday by 5 wickets. It was an important game for both teams as the winner would have sealed a place in the semi-finals. Bangladesh batters were criticized heavily for their lacklustre batting performance in an important game.
Barring Shanto’s half-century, none of the batters rose to the occasion as they could only manage 127 runs in the first innings. Pakistan chased down the score in 18.1 overs and, thereby confirmed their participation in the semis.
