NEW DELHI: Pace legend Wasim Akram ripped apart Pakistan pacers for their unusual chest height bouncer tactics against India captain Rohit Sharma during their ODI World Cup match at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
In-form Rohit unleashed a relentless assault on the Pakistan bowlers, dictating the game and leaving them baffled with his comprehensive range of shots all around the field.
The dynamic opener, in a swashbuckling display of batting, scored 86 runs from just 63 deliveries, comprising 6 well-timed boundaries and an equal number of towering sixes. Despite Pakistan's attempts to trouble Rohit with short-pitched deliveries, the 'Hitman' effortlessly dispatched them for some magnificent maximums.
Akram expressed his dissatisfaction with the tactics employed by the Pakistan pacers and emphasised that there should only be one place for the bouncers directed at chest height.
“You have bowled bouncers at chest height. Rohit Sharma is not 6’5’’. If you’ve to bowl the bouncers, bowl at his face height and that too slightly outside off so that he pulls and there is fine leg, and square leg. If you bowl bouncers at chest height, there is only one place for it – stands,” Akram said, while anlaysing the game on Pakistan-based sports channel A News.
Regarding Mohammad Rizwan's dismissal, Akram noted that Jasprit Bumrah outwitted him with a clever slower delivery that cut back in towards the batsman, ultimately disturbing the stumps.
“Everything was finishing within the stumps, and there was the slow ball against the set batsman (Rizwan). Any batsman would have got out on this kind of delivery. It nipped back and then pitched, held its line, and just clicked his off-stump,” Akram added.
