‘They think IPL is enough’ – Wasim Akram reckons Team India ‘not taking international series seriously’

Team India is receiving criticism from different quarters owing to their dismal show in the T20 World Cup 2021. Having lost their first two fixtures against Pakistan and New Zealand respectively, the Men in Blue are virtually out of the semi-final race and the cricket fraternity isn’t amused. After all, the Virat Kohli-led team stepped into the tournament as favourites.

However, they couldn’t live to the expectations and are reeling at the penultimate place in the Group 2 team standings. While the star-studded batting line-up failed to put up runs on the board, the experienced bowling attack failed as well. Like many cricket stars, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram is also not happy with India’s poor show.

Interestingly, he claimed India’s negligence towards playing limited-overs international cricket seems to be the reason behind their failure. The legendary speedster pointed out that India’s last major white-ball series before the T20 World Cup 2021 was against England in March. Although the Indian players participated in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Akram believes the drill of international cricket is different from T20 leagues.

International matches and T20 leagues are different: Wasim Akram  

“India last played a limited-overs series with all the senior players in March. Now we are in November. So that shows they are not taking those international series seriously. They think playing the IPL is enough,” Akram said on A Sports following India’s defeat to New Zealand.

“You play as much league cricket in the world that you want. While playing league cricket, you will find one or two good bowlers in the opposition. In international cricket, you will face all five good bowlers,” he added.

Notably, India played three ODIs and as many T20Is against Sri Lanka in July this year. However, a second-stringed Indian team, under Shikhar Dhawan’s leadership, was sent in that tour while the main side was in England for a five-match Test series. Most of the Indian players, featuring in the T20 World Cup squad, did well even in IPL 2021 but they weren’t able to replicate their heroics in the national jersey.

Meanwhile, India now have three games to play in the league stage. While they need to win all these fixtures handsomely, the Men in Blue now also need to depend upon other match results.