Virat Kohli does not need us, we need him: Bumrah
Bumrah, however, stressed that Kohli knows his cricket better than anyone else and that his experience of batting in these challenging conditions was essential from the team’s perspective.
Shoaib Akhtar, a former Pakistan speedster, voiced his surprise at Team India’s dismal performance in the present T20 World Cup, claiming that there are “divisions” inside the team.
Virat Kohli and his team were defeated by New Zealand by eight wickets in their second Group 2 encounter on Sunday, prompting Akhtar’s comments. Akhtar remarked in a video on his Youtube channel that there could be two groups inside the Indian team, one of which could be hostile to the Indian captain.
“Why I can see that there are two camps within the team? One is with the Kohli and one against Kohli. It’s crystal clear. The team is looking divided. I don’t know why this is happening. Maybe it’s because of his last T20 World Cup as a skipper. Maybe he made wrong decisions, which is true. But he’s a great cricketer, and we have to respect him,” Akhtar said.
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The former pacer further slammed Team India for their attitude against Kiwis.
“Yes, criticism is important because they played bad cricket against New Zealand and had the wrong attitude. Yesterday, after they lost the toss, everyone’s heads were down.
“They had no idea whatsoever. India, you only lost the toss by that time, not the whole match. They were just present there, and had no gameplan whatsoever.” Akhtar signed off.
On Wednesday, the Men in Blue will meet Afghanistan in their third T20 World Cup match in Abu Dhabi. Prior to their loss to New Zealand, India had suffered a humiliating defeat in their T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan.
(With IANS inputs)
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