Shoaib Akhtar, a Pakistani bowling star, expressed astonishment at India's poor performance in the 2017 T20 World Cup, claiming that the squad appeared to be split. Virat Kohli and his team were defeated by New Zealand by 8 wickets in their second Group 2 match on Sunday, prompting Akhtar's comments.
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The Kiwis knocked down India's 111-run total in only 14.3 overs, handing India their second straight loss in the tournament. Team India had earlier lost by 10 wickets to arch-rivals Pakistan, making it difficult for them to qualify for the semifinals.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Akhtar claimed that inside the Indian squad, there may be two groups, one of which could be hostile to Kohli. Despite making some poor mistakes in the first two games, the former fast bowler remarked that everyone should appreciate Kohli since he is a brilliant cricketer
“Why I can see that there are two camps within the team? One is with the Kohli and one against Kohli. It's crystal clear. The team is looking divided. I don't know why this is happening. Maybe it's because of his last T20 World Cup as a skipper. Maybe he made wrong decisions, which is true. But he's a great cricketer, and we have to respect him,” Akhtar said.
Team India's attitude against New Zealand was also criticised by the former fast bowler, who said the team were depressed after losing the toss.
"Yes criticism is important because they played bad cricket against New Zealand and had the wrong attitude. Yesterday, after they lost the toss, everyone's heads were down.
"They had no idea whatsoever. India, you only lost the toss by that time, not the whole match. They were just present there, and had no gameplan whatsoever." Akhtar signed off.
On Wednesday, India will face Afghanistan in their third T20 World Cup match.