Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhter slammed India after their series defeat against New Zealand with one match still in hand. After the 5-0 thrashing in the T20I series, the hosts fought back strongly to win back to back ODIs against India and lead the series 2-0.
In the second ODI at Auckland, a Ross Taylor masterclass took New Zealand to a fighting total of 273 in their 50 overs. Taylor scored 73* while opener Martin Guptill scored 79 earlier after India captain Virat Kohli opted to bowl first.
In a dramatic collapse, New Zealand lost 6 wickets for 45 runs and were reduced to 187 for 7 after completely losing their way. Then Taylor and debutant Kyle Jamieson put together an unbroken 76-run stand for the 9th wicket. It is something not new for the Indian bowlers, who often fails to wrap up the tail-enders and get hurt in the end.
And Shoaib Akhter blamed the Indian bowlers for the defeat and insisted that India deserved this loss. The former fast bowlers also felt India were short of a strike bowler who can take out wickets in the middle.
“India deserved this lesson. You cannot win ODIs by playing such poor cricket. No one had an answer to Taylor’s innings. I don’t understand how you can let the game slip from reducing the opposition to 7-8 down. I’m repeatedly saying India are missing a strike bowler. Chahal came in place of Kuldeep, he did well but they lacked someone who could put his hand up when they needed wickets,” he said.
In reply, India looked never in the game as they lost early wickets and continued to do so till Ravindra Jadeja and Navdeep Saini came together to put a Taylor-Jamieson like partnership. But once Saini departed, Jadeja failed to take India over the line and they lost the match by 22 runs in the end.
Shoaib also added that it is still a learning curve for the men in blue and asked them to show more character.
“India looked a very average side today. But Credit to New Zealand for coming back so strong after 0-5 loss in T20IS. That type of loss can be demoralizing for any team but they have made a solid comeback. This is a learning curve for India, they need to show character,” he concluded.
