‘India humiliated, Kohli cannot come in 28th over’: Akhtar gives advice - Watch

There was immense hype and expectation ahead of the India vs Australia ODI series, but the hosts were absolutely demolished by Aaron Finch and company in Mumbai in the first ODI. There was only the second wicket partnership between KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan which can be seen as a positive, but the rest of the game and strategies did not really yield dividends for the side.

Speaking after the loss, former Pakistan quick Shoaib Akhtar labelled the performance as embarrassing and said that the hosts were humiliated. “It was a big day, it was to be decided which one is the bigger side, but surprisingly India were humiliated. Their bowling conceded record runs, and they surrendered. They could not pick even a single wicket,” Akhtar told in his YouTube channel.

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Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to field first. Kohli too wanted to do the same and Akhtar believed this was the crucial factor in the game. However, he slammed the decision of Kohli sliding down the batting order and said, that this move did not make any sense.

“Toss was crucial, India lost the toss and lost the game. Shikhar Dhawan played well. Kohli coming into bat in the 28th over is hard to understand. There were partnerships, but no significant ones. Bumrah and Shami were there, but then Indian spinners were taken apart. India needs to go back to the drawing board. Kohli cannot come in the 28th over, period. He needs to bat earlier. India were smashed, battered, hammered by Australia,” he added.

As per the former quick, India need to go back to the drawing board and rethink their tactics. Also, he wanted the side to come out all guns blazing in the remainder of the matches if they want to take the series 2-1.

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“ It was a big reality check. Australia walloped India, made a mockery of the bowling attack. If Australia win the toss again, will the same sequence of events follow. It will be embarassing if India lose 3-0. India’s confidence was no where close to being the best. I’m finding it weird.”

“If India do not play with more ruthlessness, they will keep losing. I think they can still make a strong comeback, they have to. India can still take the series2-1, but it will be a huge task. India needs to come out with a lot of vengeance, if they don’t, they will be hammered again. Want to see a more aggressive team in the next ODI,” he said.