Shoaib Akhtar criticized Indian bowling after the loss to South Africa in the T20 World Cup. He raised questions on the slow speed of 120 km/h of Hardik and Dubey and said that this defeat has exposed India’s bowling.
Lahore: After the embarrassing defeat at the hands of South Africa in the Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup, former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has fiercely targeted the Indian bowling attack and all-rounders. Akhtar clearly said that the batsmen are not afraid of the slow bowling of Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dubey and this defeat has exposed India’s bowling.
In this Super 8 match held at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, South Africa defeated India by 76 runs. This is India’s biggest defeat in terms of runs in the history of T20 World Cup. South Africa had given a target of 188 runs, in response to which the Indian team was limited to 111 runs. After this defeat, in an interview given to a channel, Akhtar scolded the Indian players badly.
Shoaib Akhtar taunted and said, “Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dubey are bowling at a speed of only 120 kilometers per hour. You cannot scare the batsmen at the international level with this speed.” He further said, “Varun Chakraborty, who should bowl at 97-98 km/h speed, has come down to 94. Young batsmen like Dewald Brewis were hitting ‘no-look sixes’ at him, which shows the bad condition of our bowling.” Akhtar said that India’s bowling attack has completely failed and this is a matter of big concern in the coming matches.
Akhtar said, “India’s bowling got exposed in front of South Africa. No one will be scared after seeing Hardik and Dubey bowling at a speed of 120. We saw how Dewald Brevis hit sixes to Varun Chakraborty with ease. This bowling attack will not be able to survive on foreign pitches or in big tournaments.”
This defeat from South Africa has also made India’s path to the semi-finals difficult. The team’s run rate (-3.800) has fallen very low, which is a big headache. Now, to keep the hopes of semi-finals alive, India will have to win the remaining matches of Super 8 by a big margin.