Pakistan bowling great Wasim Akram gave his take on India’s disappointing 2021 T20 World Cup campaign where they failed to reach the semifinals. Virat Kohli and Co. were the favourites before the start of the tournament but the back-to-back defeats in the first two games against Pakistan and New Zealand hurt their chances as a result they didn’t make it to the top four. India bounced back in the tournament with massive wins over Namibia, Afghanistan and Scotland but it was too late for them.

Akram talked about India’s dismal show and said that the Kohli and Co. never recovered after the first over Shaheen Afridi against Pakistan where the left-arm pacer dismissed Rohit Sharma with a toe-crushing yorker.

“They were the favourites to win the World Cup. And I suppose after the first game… after especially Shaheen Afridi’s first over, they never could recover. Then you see, there were a lot of talks about they concentrate on the IPL a lot more," Akram said in a video uploaded by Sport360.

India suffered their first defeat to Pakistan in the ICC World Cup events as Pakistan dominated the match courtesy of their fast bowlers and opening batters to register a historic 10-wicket win.

Akram further talked about how BCCI not allowing the Indian players to play in other franchise leagues is hurting them.

“Their players don’t play against international players as much in the other league. And probably they were right at times because very few have faced – Pakistan and India have hardly played cricket – very few have faced Shaheen, Haris Rauf or Hasan Ali," Akram said.

“When you play leagues in different countries – one or two, I’m not saying play every league – at least your players get the experience to play against the other bowlers, different pitches, different teams, different conditions," added Akram. “So I think they (India) have to think back… IPL is the number 1 league, yes, money-wise, talent-wise but they have to allow the players at least one or two more leagues worldwide," he said.