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Cricket PlayersWasim Akram can't digest Salman Agha and Pakistan's surrender vs India's Kuldeep Yadav: ‘Was talking to Sunil Gavaskar…’
Akram dissected Pakistan’s struggles against Kuldeep Yadav, stressing that the wrist-spinner’s deception makes him unreadable.
Legendary all-rounder Wasim Akram shared his honest opinion on the Pakistan batters' struggle against Indian spinners, especially Kuldeep Yadav, in the Asia Cup match on Sunday. It was a lacklustre show from Pakistan as they looked clueless against the spin troika of Kuldeep, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy. They spun their webs around the batters and didn't allow them to free their arms; as a result, Pakistan played a total of 63 dot balls in their innings.The trio managed to keep their economy rate at six or below in the high-pressure encounter as a result, Pakistan, who decided to bat first, were restricted to 127-9 in their 20 overs.
Chasing the target, India suffered two early setbacks despite a blistering 31 off just 13 deliveries from opener Abhishek Sharma. However, Suryakumar Yadav anchored the innings with an unbeaten 47, guiding the side home comfortably with 25 balls still remaining.
Kuldeep was the pick of the bowlers once again and claimed three wickets for just 18 runs as Pakistan had no idea how to counter-attack him.
Akram dissected Pakistan’s struggles against Kuldeep, stressing that the wrist-spinner’s deception makes him unreadable. Speaking "about insights from Sunil Gavaskar, Akram explained that unless batters pick Kuldeep from the hand, their attempts—like frequent sweeping—only expose their inability to decode his variations.
"It’s just the way he bowls. They can’t read him. In the pre-show, I was talking to Sunny bhai, who was a great batter. He said ‘unless and until you can read him from the hand, you won’t be able to understand that type of bowling’. So that’s what happened. When they sweep against Kuldeep every second ball, it means you are not reading him," Akram said on Sony Sports.
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“Pakistan batters were chasing a strike rate of 150”
The legendary Pakistan all-rounder was sad to see the likes of Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris and Salman Agha failing to stand up to the Indian spinners.
"Pakistan played 63 dot balls in their innings — that’s just over 10 overs of dots. Credit to the Indian bowlers. It’s sad to see players like Hasan Nawaz, Haris and our captain; they are talented players. But you need to pick your bowlers, read the situation. They were all chasing a strike rate of 150," he added.
