Pakistan legends Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis gave their takes on India’s 10-wicket loss against England in the T20 World Cup semifinal in Adelaide on Thursday.
“England just outplayed them in every aspect of the game. I think India’s start was very slow. They couldn’t recover on time. But those guys were something else, Alex Hales and Buttler. Probably 190 would have been a good total on this pitch. But firstly, India accelerated their innings pretty late. Only Hardik Pandya came and hit 63 off 33 balls which enabled them to post a respectable total,” Akram said on A Sports.
“Their captain looked out of touch, 27 off 28 balls and the of course Virat Kohli got his 50, played okay but on 40 deliveries. I think that was the difference between the two sides,” he added.
Waqar Younis, who had predicted that England would walk away the victors, was asked why he made that prediction, to which the former Pakistan pacer said, “Look, it was mostly guesswork to be honest. But everyone knows that England team is a very very good team. England were the only team who could have posed a difficult challenge to India in these knockout stages. But I never expected this kind of domination. They outplayed them.”
“India were totally in their shell, they did not know how to even start. From the very beginning, when they started batting, they were totally lost. They were not themselves. They did not play the aggressive cricket they are known for. In the first 6 overs, there were 38 runs in the board. By te time they realised they were behind the game, it was too late. The pitch got better in the evening. The way Hales and Buttler play, it’s hard to stop them,” he concluded.
