Cricket
Wasim Akram rebukes Pakistan star with ‘not bowling bouncers to Rohit’ remark | Cricket
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Legendary Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram wants Babar Azam’s side to iron out their bowling issues after India crushed the Green Army in the blockbuster meeting between the traditional rivals at the One Day International (ODI) World Cup. The 1992 world champions will meet Australia in their upcoming match at the World Cup in India. Pakistan’s below-par performance paved the way for Rohit Sharma’s Team India to retain their perfect ODI World Cup record against the arch-rivals at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
A collective bowling effort followed by Rohit’s batting masterclass sealed a seven-wicket win for the two-time world champions in Ahmedabad. While Jasprit Bumrah and Co. dismissed Babar’s Pakistan to 191 in 42.5 overs, Indian skipper Rohit demolished the bowling attack of the Green Army by playing an entertaining knock of 86 off just 63 balls. Talking about Pakistan’s forgetful outing against India at the world’s largest cricket stadium, Akram questioned the bowling performance of pacer Haris Rauf.
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“There’s an attitude about a bowler. Talking about Haris Rauf, and nothing against him as he’s been Pakistan’s main bowler, I think he will only pick wickets when batters go after him. I’ve never seen him swing the ball and pick wickets like (Jasprit) Bumrah did today. He has pace but he has to improve his length for one-day cricket,” Akram said on a Pakistani TV show.
‘Rauf was not bowling bouncers to Rohit’
Speedster Shaheen Afridi was successful in taking the wicket of (16) and Indian skipper Rohit (86) while Hasan Ali bagged the crucial wicket of Virat Kohli (16) in the low-scoring encounter. Pacer Rauf bowled six overs and went wicketless against India. “Rauf was not bowling bouncers to Rohit. You need to hit proper bouncers so that Rohit would have pulled, got a leading edge, and would have got caught at fine leg or square leg. Rauf was bowling at his waist height and Rohit knew where to send the ball,” Akram explained.
‘Bumrah is a clever bowler’
Akram, who was critical of the poor bowling show from Pakistan, also lauded Indian superstar Jasprit Bumrah. Pace ace Bumrah picked up the match-changing wicket of Mohammad Rizwan before cleaning up all-rounder Shadab Khan. With a brace of wickets, Bumrah leaked only 19 runs in seven overs. He was also named the Player of the Match. “Jasprit Bumrah is a clever bowler, one of the best in the world. When he was not getting any swing initially, he was hit for a couple of fours but restricted the flow of runs after that. Everything was finishing within the stumps and that was a slow ball to dismiss (Muhammad) Rizwan. Any batter would have got out on the delivery that got Shadab Khan,” the former Pakistan skipper added.
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