Former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram came down hard on Babar Azam’s men after they suffered an embarrassing seven-wicket defeat at the hands of India in their ICC ODI World Cup match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Akram, who was known as the ‘Sultan of Swing’ during his playing days, also highlighted poor fitness as the reason behind Pakistan’s lacklustre show against the Rohit Sharma-led side.
Former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram came down hard on Babar Azam’s men after they suffered an embarrassing seven-wicket defeat at the hands of India in their ICC ODI World Cup match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Akram, who was known as the ‘Sultan of Swing’ during his playing days, also highlighted poor fitness as the reason behind Pakistan’s lacklustre show against the Rohit Sharma-led side.
“I am concerned about the fitness of these players.
Now there is no fitness test. When Misbah was the coach and selector, he used to get the Yo-Yo Test and other tests done. A professional cricketer should undergo a fitness test at least once in a month. If you won’t do this, you will face this (defeat vs India),” Akram said on a Pakistan TV show.
“PCB has seen three chairmen in the last 3 years. This created a scare among the team members and management about whether they would be part of the next series or not. From 154 for 2 and then 191 all out was really, really disappointing,” the former Pakistan captain said.
India maintained their unbeaten winning streak against arch-rivals Pakistan, sparking celebrations among billions of fans after India secured a dominant win.
It marked India’s eighth triumph over Pakistan in the ODI World Cups, extending their unbeaten run against their neighbours in the 50-over mega event to 8-0.
India will now take on Bangladesh on October 19 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, while Pakistan will face Australia on October 20 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
