Wasim Akram slams India's middle order for lack of intent in World Cup final

Wasim Akram, the former captain of Pakistan, believes that Australia lost the World Cup final on Sunday in Ahmedabad because the Indian middle order didn't play with any intention.

India, batting first, amassed a respectable 240 runs in 50 overs. The solitary success in the middle order came from KL Rahul (66), while Virat Kohli (54) and skipper-turned-opener Rohit Sharma (47), were both successful at the top of the order. Rahul's strike rate was only 61.68, thus his runs didn't arrive quickly.

While there was pressure on Rahul to play a calm innings, Akram felt that the middle-order hitters may have gone into the game believing that it was a "do or die" situation.

The middle order should have played with a "do or die" mentality, I guess. I can see what Rahul was thinking when he told Star Sports that he had to bat deep because he couldn't take chances of getting out and that there was no batting to follow (Ravindra) Jadeja.

"It is likely that Rahul would have accepted that risk if Hardik (Pandya) had been on the squad. However, he would have also come under fire if he had taken a chance and left the circumstance.

It would have been a different ball game, he continued, if they had maintained pace and scored rapidly in the middle overs.

Rohit's methodology

Even though Rohit eventually lost his wicket as a result of his aggressive batting style during the initial innings, Akram believed that Rohit was correct in his approach.

"That's his game; he's played like that the entire World Cup. People are finding a reason to criticize now that he has performed the same in the final, even though nobody complained during the World Cup about the starts he was providing or the fact that he was consistently getting out in the 40s.

"Although he lost that match to Glenn Maxwell, thanks to Cummins and Maxwell, he's still one of the world's finest spin players. However, he continued, "I don't think Rohit should change it because that's the nature of his game."

Missed a trick

With the pacers being the most potent on the Motera pitch, the Indians could only take four Australian wickets in defending the total. Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj each claimed a wicket, in addition to Jasprit Bumrah, who claimed two wickets.

Shami was brought in during the Powerplay of the Aussie chase, whilst Siraj was not given the responsibilities until after the Powerplay. With Siraj's economical bowling, Akram thought it would have been wiser to bring him on before Shami.

Although Siraj's wickets column may not indicate it, I thought he bowled exceptionally well the entire World Cup. However, he went on, "His recent performances and the breakthroughs he made in the Asia Cup have established him as the future of Indian cricket."

"They brought in Shami early in this match, and he did affect the outcome by getting (David) Warner out, though it seemed more like Warner got out by slashing at a wide ball."

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