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What Wasim Akram said about top India batters after Mitchell Starc destroyed hosts in 2nd ODI: ‘Kohli, Rohit, Rahul are…’

Australia pacer Mitchell Starc in action against India in the second ODI in Visakhapatnam on March 19, 2023. (ANI Photo)

By: Shubham Ghosh

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, who has also been one of cricket’s finest left-arm fast bowlers, reacted after Australia left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc ripped through India’s batting order to help his side register a thumping 10-wicket win to level the three-match series 1-1 on Sunday (19) with one to go. According to the former player, the top India batters who fell against Starc are great players but gave the bowler more credit. He also felt that the pitch played a part.

India were bundled out for a paltry 117 in 26 overs after Australia captain Steve Smith won the toss and asked the home team to bat first at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The visitors then had no problem whatsoever to knock off the runs in just 11 overs and all wickets to spare.

It was India’s fourth lowest total at home in one-day internationals (ODIs).

It was not the first time that India were exposed against quality left-arm pace bowling. They struggled against Pakistan’s Mohammed Amir in the final of the Champions Trophy in England in 2017 and New Zealand’s Trent Boult in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup. On both occasions, the left-arm seamers polished off India’s top batters to beat the side.

Starc also shredded India’s top order on Sunday to register his ninth five-wicket haul in the 50-over format, dismissing the likes of captain and opener Rohit Sharma, his opening partner Shubman Gill, middle-order batters Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul.

Speaking on India’s batting woes, Akram told Sports Tak channel, “See, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul; all these guys are great players. Rahul won the last match for India. It’s not just them who get trapped to the left-armer’s angle; others fall too, especially when the ball comes in. And the pitch on which the match was played, I felt as if I was watching the game in Australia.”

Australia sent India to bat first after a brief spell of rain and used the overcast conditions to their benefit.

“It rained as well, the ground was lush green too. I felt as if the match is being played in New Zealand. Credit to the organisers that the ground looked good. It was a small match; Australia played well. The series is shaping up nicely at 1-1. But I supposed that the ball was seaming on that wicket. Although Australia scored those runs quickly, I saw a couple of overs from Siraj, the ball was seaming both ways,” the 56-year-old, who has taken more than 900 international wickets out of which more than 500 came in the 50-over format, said.

Akram also hailed Starc as one of the greatest fast bowlers in the world and said it should not come as a surprise that a bowler of his callibre got the upper hand over a star-studded Indian batting line-up.

The series will be decided in Chennai on Wednesday (22) when the two teams will play the final ODI. India won the first match in Mumbai by five wickets.

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