India came up with a sensational last-ball win over Pakistan in their 20-20 World Cup opener in what has been a great Diwali gift to all Indian cricket fans. The game however rarely looked in India’s favour since the first powerplay of the first innings ended.
India’s batting in particular was a major failure in the game bringing about the majority of woes in the match. The Men in Blue struggled at 31/4 at one point in time on the back of poor performance by their top order. Former Pakistan pacer, Shoaib Akhtar shed light on India’s opening woes on his YouTube channel.
“India openers looked under pressure. Rohit Sharma as a captain should calm himself down and KL Rahul is throwing his wicket by focusing too much on himself,” Akhtar said on his YouTube channel. The Rawalpindi express however is also expectant of another match between India and Pakistan at the World Cup.
“Right now, India have won one match and Pakistan have lost one match. Pakistan will meet India in this World Cup again in the later stages. When India and Pakistan play only then the World Cup starts, “said Akhtar.
As a bowler, Akhtar read the wicket quite well and was content that Pakistan could make as many runs as they did. He however also hoped that Pakistan could make some more runs.
Pakistan accept this defeat with grace- Shoaib Akhtar
“It was one of the best matches in the history of the game. The wicket was very bad, where it was difficult to understand the ball. But Pakistan achieved 160 on it. Pakistan could have had achieved more but unfortunately, our lower middle order couldn’t play maturely”, said the former cricketer. Akhtar additionally asked Pakistan to gracefully accept defeat and work on a better plan for defeating India.
“Pakistan accept this defeat with grace and come back with a strategy and resources and a better game plan. You don’t have to fall from here, you have played wonderfully,” Akhtar said.
