- Mar 4, 2024
- Feb 11, 2023
Veteran Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter, Kamran Akmal, reckons it is a very healthy sign for India that seasoned off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is in top form ahead of the 20-20 World Cup 2022, which is to be held in October in Australia. Akmal is hugely impressed with Ashwin’s performance of late and he feels that it would add to the team’s confidence and strength to have someone like him.
The 40-year-old, who currently plies his trade in the PSL, asserted the fact that Ashwin is an experienced campaigner and a proven match winner. Ashwin recuperated from injury and returned to India’s T20I team in the ongoing tour of the West Indies. In the first three T20Is, he picked only three wickets at a strike rate of 24 and an economy rate of 6.66.
“Ravichandran Ashwin is a proven campaigner and his form ahead of the T20 World Cup is a positive sign for Indian cricket. He impressed once again with his variations,” said Akmal on his YouTube channel.
Suryakumar Yadav has a wide range of shots and he played a breathtaking knock -Kamran Akmal
Speaking further about Ashwin, the 40-year-old said, “He has a lot of experience playing T20 cricket and is a matchwinner. It adds to the confidence of the team when you have someone like Ravichandran Ashwin to bowl in the middle overs.”
Akmal also heaped praise on Suryakumar Yadav, who is in a blistering form. He appreciated the skills of the opening batter and praised his shot selection in the third T20I against West Indies, where he made 76 runs off 44 balls.
India won the match by seven wickets and Yadav was adjudged with the Player of the Match award. Kamran Akmal observed that he has very different shots in his armory and that is his differential point as a batter.
“Suryakumar showcased his skills and played a brilliant knock. His shot selection was very good. He would have scored a lot more runs from the same number of balls if Shreyas Iyer hadn’t got out at the other end. He slowed down a bit after Iyer’s dismissal,” stated Akmal.