Former Pakistani wicket-keeper and batter Kamran Akmal criticised the current Indian T20 team's performance against the West Indies after Hardik Pandya's men lost the 1st T20 International at Tarouba, Trinidad on Thursday. (More Cricket News)
Rovman Powell-led West Indies defeated India by four runs as the visitors came up short in pursuit of a modest target of 150 runs. Debutant Tilak Varma shone with the bat with a score of 39 off 21 deliveries.
Akmal stated that Team India were "overconfident" in their chase.
"When they (India) came for chase, I thought the captain, the coach, the management, they were overconfident. It felt like they thought, 'it's a nothing total'. You have to plan. I didn't see that. I saw experiments, but you need to plan with it. You need to plan the player's roles, keeping in mind whether they're making a comeback or already a part of the side," said Akmal on his YouTube channel.
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Akmal was also displeased with the way Team India set up their batting order in the first T20I. The Hardik Pandya-led side sent Suryakumar Yadav at number 3 as Varma followed him while Hardik Pandya came in next. Sanju Samson was sent out to bat at the sixth position.
"When I talk about Sanju (Samson), does he play in IPL at number 6? He plays in the top 4, give him a chance there. If (Virat) Kohli and Rohit (Sharma) aren't there, these batsmen should play higher in the order. If you send him at 6, thinking he played aggressively in the last ODI so he can do that again. It doesn't happen every time," added Akmal.
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India play the second T20I against West Indies in Guyana on Sunday.
