"Kis Einstein ne kaha tha?" Shoaib Akhtar rips apart England and Pakistan Pundits after India cruise to T20 World Cup final
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Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar lashed out at England's approach during their T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final against India. At the same time, he also praised the Indian team for putting in a complete performance and making it to the final.
India maintained its unbeaten record in the tournament and made sure to avenge the loss in the last edition's semi-final from England. Firstly, the batters put up an above-par score on the board on a tricky wicket that was slow and had low bounce.
Then, the bowlers did what they had done throughout the tournament. Azar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav proved too much for England on a helpful pitch as they dismantled England's strong batting line-up to give India a berth for the final.
Shoaib Akhtar lauds India after a complete performance
While speaking on a video through his X (formerly Twitter handle), Shoaib Akhtar was all praises for the Men in Blue for putting in an outstanding performance on the big day. Akhtar mentioned that India deserved to win and lauded Indian batters for their performances.
"It was a complete performance. I am very happy to see India (win), a well-deserved team that has full range of batting...I have been saying this since long (that) there is no batsman like Rohit Sharma, then Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya. These three batsmen, one of whom is an allrounder (Hardik), can win you a game by all means. So I am very happy," Akhtar said.
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— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) J<!---->u<!---->n<!---->e<!----> <!---->2<!---->7<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->2<!---->4
Shoaib Akhtar tears apart England
The legendary fast bowler was equally critical of England's plans for the match. He questioned England's tactics to bowl first against a team that has a quality spin attack.
"Ye mujhe koi bata de kis Einstein ne kaha tha England ko ke toss jeet ke aapne doosri batting karni hai, kaunsa sciencedaan hai inke paas (which Einstein told England to win the toss and chase, which scientist they have)," Akhtar wondered.
"A team that has three spinners, Axar, Kuldeep, who is a match winner, and (Ravindra) Jadeja; then they have (Jasprit) Bumrah. So who advised you to win the toss and chase against India)," he asked the viewers.
India make it to the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final
Meanwhile, India produced an enthralling performance with bat and ball to decimate England. After being put into bat first, India lost Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant inside the powerplay. But Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav steadied the ship with an excellent partnership of 84 runs. Rohit scored an important 57 off 39 balls while Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed on 47 off 36 balls
Hardik Pandya came in and continued with the same momentum. He scored 23 off 13 balls to help India finish on a high. Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel also played small cameos down the order as India scored 171-7 in 20 overs.
Chasing 172 on a challenging pitch, England started aggressively but lost Jos Buttler as soon as spin was introduced. Axar Patel proved to be the game-changer for India as he got the big wickets of Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, and Jonny Bairstow.
Although Harry Brook and Jofra Archer tried their best with their brief little knocks, that wasn't going to be enough as England fell short by 68 runs.
