'India have been exposed. When you are against a quality bowling attack...': Shoaib Akhtar after SA beat IND in T20 WC
Assessing India's performance against South Africa, former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar made a brutal statement on the Men in Blue.
Team India made an impressive start to their T20 Word Cup campaign in Australia. They beat Pakistan in their opening match before scripting the same against Netherlands to quickly take the top spot in the points table in Group 2 of Super 12 stage. They stood a win away from making the semis, a spot they had missed in the last edition in the UAE. However, South Africa halted India's run with a five-wicket win in Perth on Sunday. And assessing India's performance against South Africa, former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar made a brutal statement on the Men in Blue.
Akhtar was particularly disappointed with India ruining Pakistan's chances of making the semis. Pakistan needed India to beat South Africa, who increase their chances after they had bagged their first win in the tournament earlier that day against Netherlands.
“India ne marwa diya humein (India have nearly killed our chances) by losing to South Africa. Not India’s fault though, Pakistan played so badly. We left this thing on others. I was wishing and hoping, India would come strong and hard. This shows that when you are against a quality bowling attack, the condition of the subcontinent teams come out in the open,” Akhtar said in his YouTube channel.
The legendary pacer then analysed India's batting, saying that the follies have been called by quality pace bowlers from South Africa. Lungi Ngidi was the wrecker in chief as he picked four wickets in the match. He opened the gates in the fourth over and India quickly lost four more for just 26 runs. Suryakumar Yadav did look to pull back a competitive total with his fiery fifty, but 133 was never too much for South Africa.
“India have been exposed in front of South Africa fast bowling but they were not out and about because they’ll have easier matches now. Pakistan have to face a difficult opponent in South Africa. It still looks difficult and impossible but I am still backing my tea. Let’s see what happens,” he said.
“It’s not easy playing in these pitches. India left us very disappointed. If Indian batters played with a bit of restraint, 150 would have been a winning total here but India left us very disappointed,” he added.
Akhtar however remains optmistic of Pakistan's chances in the World Cup with the all-important South Africa game awaiting the Babar Azam-led side on Wednesday.
“Now onwards, Pakistan’s chances are very limited. I was wishing India would defeat South Africa and then if Pakistan could also defeat South Africa, we would have had a chance. But now it seems like, South Africa will be ready to inflict some damage on us. They have become contenders to win the World Cup. I had apprehensions with the Pakistan team selection. Now result is in front of you."
