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'It was a completely lost squad' - Shoaib Akhtar feels Indian players 'pressed panic button' during New Zealand tie
A week after their 10-wicket loss to arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai, India suffered an eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand leaving their semifinal hopes in the T20 World Cup hanging by a thread.
Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar felt that Indian players had pressed the panic button during the crucial T20 World Cup match against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday and hence looked completely lost en route to their second consecutive loss in the competition.
A week after their 10-wicket loss to arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue, India suffered an eight-wicket defeat to the Blackcaps leaving their semifinal hopes in the World Cup hanging by a thread.
Looking back at the match, Shoaib failed to comprehend the logic behind demoting Rohit Sharma in the batting order and asking the young Ishan Kishan to open alongside KL Rahul.
"Why did they send in Ishan Kishan? Hardik Pandya is bowling right at the end, he should have bowled in the beginning. I just don't understand what game plan India were playing with. It was a completely lost squad," Shoaib said in a video posted on his Twitter handle.
"Everyone had pressed the panic button. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma coming at different numbers, a new kid is batting at the top. They lost the toss and were just panicking," he further said.
Ishan scored four off seven while Rohit laced a six and a boundary in his run-a-ball 14 as India were restricted to a below-par 110 for seven.
Shoaib also felt that the bowlers, barring Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy, looked very ordinary during the game.
"Fine, you are not able to connect, at least play out 20 overs as batsmen. India looked a very ordinary team to me. The bowling squad, apart from Bumrah and maybe Varun Chakravarthy, the rest of the pack looked very ordinary," said Shoaib.
