IND vs PAK: India Should Decide What Is Their Best XI Going Forward - Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar in his recent Youtube video asked questions regarding team India’s team selection for the Super-4 match against Pakistan on Sunday. The two Asian heavyweights came up against each other once again in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022, with Pakistan winning this time by five wickets.

Team India has been doing a lot of experiments in the last few months with their T20I side in order to find the right set of players for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.

Does Team India have a perfect playing XI?

Since the beginning of this year, the likes of Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav and even Rishabh Pant opened the batting for India.

Many young bowlers got their chance to prove their worth with Bhuvneshwar Kumar being always there as the leader of the attack. Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer also made their mark in the middle order. So, there has been constant talk around about the final squad which India will take on the flight to Australia next month.

Team India coach Rahul Dravid also made it clear in the recent press conference that the management will be looking to play their best XI from this point of time but straightway made three changes in the Super-4 game against Pakistan which they went onto lose by five wickets.

India should decide their best XI first: Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistani fast bowler, Akhtar threw his views on the same, India’s team selection, and urged them to decide their best XI first after Pakistan beat Rohit Sharma’s men, which was yet another last-over thriller.

“India should decide what is their best XI going forward. Who is your future? Is it Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Deepak Hooda or Ravi Bishnoi. Find your final XI at least first, because this is a confused selection from India and I don’t know why there is so much confusion,” Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.

Fans around the world also raised questions over leaving out Dinesh Karthik which was the biggest change in the playing XI against Pakistan among the three. The wicket-keeper batter has an important role as a finisher in the team and following the injury of Ravindra Jadeja, the management was forced to replace the 37-year-old with a left-hander Rishabh Pant. As a result, with India losing wickets at regular intervals, there was no one at the end to hit the ball big alongside Virat Kohli and India fell 15-20 runs short which cost them the match at the end.

The Men in Blue will now lock horns against Sri Lanka in their next Super-4 fixture on September 6.

Also Read: IND vs PAK: Haris Rauf Bowled A Great Last Over – Virat Kohli