IND vs NZ: India playing the World Cup like a run-away train with failed brakes, says Wasim Akram | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: India continuing their unbeaten run in the ICC World Cup 2023 with a win over New Zealand on Sunday earned them the tag of “unstoppable” by the legendary Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram, who sang praises of Rohit Sharma & Co on the news channel ‘A Sports’.
Led by ‘Chase Master’ Virat Kohli‘s 95 and Mohammed Shami’s five-wicket haul (5/54), India defeated New Zealand in a top-of-the-table clash in Dharamsala to win by four wickets.

The victory was India’s fifth in a row in the tournament, which put them on top of the leaderboard with 10 points. It was New Zealand’s first defeat of this World Cup after four straight victories, and they are now No. 2.

“India is like that run-away train that has its brakes failed. They are going that way,” said Akram. “They have the weapons, have the merit, the skills and most importantly they know how to execute their plans.”
New Zealand put up a challenging 273 on the board, which could have been a lot more had Shami not bowled a terrific spell in the death overs.

Led by Shami’s effort, India restricted New Zealand to 54 runs in their last 10 overs while taking six wickets despite Daryl Mitchell’s century (130). Mitchell also added 159 runs for the third wicket with Rachin Ravindra (75).

But Kohli’s sublime knock and useful contributions from Rohit Sharma (46), Shreyas Iyer (33), Shubman Gill (26) and KL Rahul (27) kept New Zealand bowlers at bay.

Akram said India is a complete team with quality replacements at their disposal. With Hardik not available, the Indian think-tank had to tinker with the combination they fielded for the match.
“They did one change according to the situation. Squads should be such, like India and New Zealand’s, so that if anybody is injured or out of touch or you want to play someone according to opposition or pitch (then you have such resources available). Like India played Shami, Hardik was injured, they dropped Shardul (Thakur), SKY (Suryakumar Yadav) was brought in as a new batter. Then Shami got a wicket off the first ball of his spell,” said Akram.

While chasing, India were in a slight spot of bother at 191/5, but Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 39 off 44 balls ensured that the hosts did not miss Hardik, who was ruled out for the match with an ankle injury.
But Akram said India always had it under control despite the fall of wickets.
“Kya zabardast chase ki hai (what a phenomenal chase). No pressure. Wickets fell, but they looked smooth, looked in control. That’s a great sign for the Indian team and Indian cricket,” the former Pakistan captain concluded.

Watch IND vs NZ: India end 20-year jinx against New Zealand in World Cup 2023 top of the table clash