T20 World Cup 2021: Virat Kohli’s India ‘think IPL is enough’, says ex-Pakistan captain Wasim Akram

Team India’s ICC T20 World Cup 2021 has been shocking so far with the side losing both their opening fixtures against Pakistan and New Zealand. Virat Kohli’s side are on the brink of elimination with their chances of making the semifinals looking very slim. Critics and fans believe that IPL 2021 which preceded the World Cup could be one of the reasons for Men-in-Blue’s poor show in the tournament.

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels that India’s negligence towards playing limited-overs international cricket seems to be the reason. Akram, who holds the record for most ODI wickets, pointed out that prior to the T20 World Cup, the last big international limited-overs series the senior players played was back in March against England.

Although the players took part in the IPL 2021 recently, no amount of league cricket can match the standards of international cricket, according to Akram.

“India last played a limited-overs series with all the senior players in March. Now we are in November. So that shows they are not taking those international series seriously. They think playing the IPL is enough. You play as much league cricket in the world that you want. While playing league cricket, you will find one or two good bowlers in the opposition. In international cricket, you will face all five good bowlers,” Akram said on ‘A Sports’ following India’s eight-wicket loss to New Zealand.

This is epic . #ThePavilion @asportstvpkk #ICCT20WorldCup2021 https://t.co/GWx5jCXl8d — Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) November 1, 2021

India played three ODIs and three T20Is in Sri Lanka around July end, but it was a squad filled with youngsters since the senior players were participating in the Test series in England. Akram also felt that losing the toss deflated India in the first place, which further worsened when the management decided to push Rohit Sharma at No. 3.

“It wasn’t a great game. It was a one-sided game. India committed a lot of mistakes. When they lost the toss, I feel they were pushed back a little psychologically. The biggest mess-up was downgraded Rohit Sharma to 3 in a crucial, do-or-die game. The guy has got four centuries in T20Is as opener. They could have made Ishan Kishan bat at 3 too. This was the start when the panic button was pressed,” Akram said.

Meanwhile, former South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir doesn’t agree with Akram. “It is not right to blame the Indian Premier League for Team India’s poor performance. All the players are taking part in some league around the world. In T20 cricket, if you don’t perform on the day, you end up on the losing side. You shouldn’t blame the players like this,” Tahir, who will turning out in the Abu Dhabi T10 league later this month, said during a virtual interaction.