‘If they play with the same mentality as the Asia Cup…’ – Former cricketer warns Pakistan ahead of 2023 ODI World Cup match against India
India vs Pakistan (Source: Twitter)
The loss of Pakistan against India in the 2023 Asia Cup has not gone well with Pakistan players, critics, former cricketers, and fans. Adding to it, the team did not perform well against Sri Lanka and were eliminated from the Super 4 stage of the tournament. A lot of former cricketers criticized the Pakistan team due to their underperformance in the tournament.
A lot of injuries in the camp meant that Pakistan could not give their best. Talking about the same, the former Pakistan cricketer Kamran Akmal has given his opinions. Akmal talked about the performance of Pakistan in the 2023 Asia Cup and felt that there needs to be a change in the mentality of the players. The former wicketkeeper batter questioned the way Pakistan has played cricket in the last few years.
‘Pakistan team needs to plan really well to put them under pressure’ – Former Pakistan Cricketer
Speaking about the issue on his YouTube channel, Akmal said “If they play with the same mentality as the Asia Cup, and the way we played for the past three years, they’re going to get thrashed badly. They need to prepare really well,” and asked for better preparation from the players of Pakistan. Akmal also praised the bench strength of the Indian team.
“Mohammed Shami is on the bench, he doesn’t play in this XI. That shows you it’s a complete bowling unit. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are in form, Shubman Gill scored a century recently, so it looks like a solid batting unit. I’ll just say that for the match we have on October 14, Pakistan team need to plan really well to put them under pressure,” added Akmal.
In the ODI World Cup, India has a monumental upper hand against Pakistan. In 7 appearances in the ODI World Cup, India has beaten Pakistan in all the seven occasions. Pakistan is yet to beat India in the ODI World Cup. Under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, India defeated Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup. The Indian team will hope to repeat the feat in the ODI World Cup.
