‘Middle-order should have had ‘do or die’ mindset’ – Wasim Akram on India’s loss against Australia and ODI World Cup 2023 finals
Pakistan’s former fast bowler Wasim Akram recently talked about what went wrong on the Indian cricket team’s part in the ODI World Cup 2023 finals. Australia defeated India by six wickets in the final match of the World Cup 2023 on 19 November at the Narendra Modi Stadium and Ahmedabad.
As per Akram in the final match of such a marquee tournament, the team should stick to what they have already been doing if they had been successful in the games before. He also emphasized that the middle-order batting lineup should have had a do-or-die kind of mindset and scored runs instead of losing consistent wickets.
Wasim Akram on India’s performance in the ODI World Cup 2023 finals
The 1992 World Cup winner appreciated Mohammed Siraj‘s bowling and said, “If you ask me, I found [Mohammed] Siraj to be bowling really well throughout the World Cup, though his wickets column may not suggest that, but the breakthroughs he gave in Asia Cup and his recent performances have established him as the future of Indian cricket. In this match, they straight away brought in Shami and he did have an impact on the game right away by getting [David] Warner out, though it was more like Warner got himself out by slashing at a wide ball.”
“Another factor is that after losing the three wickets within the first 15 overs the due set in, which made it easier for batting as the ball wasn’t doing much after that. I’m not taking credit away from Australia’s batting, but it does psychologically affect the bowlers. I think in big games like the finals, teams should always stick to what they have been doing and what’s been working for them,” said Akram.
“If I have to pick any particular reason, I suppose the middle-order should have played with a ‘do or die’ mindset. I can understand what was going through [KL] Rahul’s mind, that there was no batting to come after [Ravindra] Jadeja and that he had to bat deep, and batting deep meant he couldn’t take risks of getting out. If Hardik [Pandya] was in the team, he probably would take that risk, but if he had taken a risk and gotten out in this situation, then people would have criticized him for that as well. If they had kept pace and scored quickly in the middle overs, then it would have been a different ball game”, added Akram.
