Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram shut down India’s critics after the Men in Blue won the Champions Trophy. India registered a four-wicket win against New Zealand in the finale of the eight-team tournament in Dubai on Sunday.
During the tournament, a lot of cricket boffins said India had an undue advantage of playing all of their matches at a single venue whereas the other seven teams were traveling across Pakistan.
However, Akram said India was the best team in the tournament and they would have won even if they had played in Pakistan.
Akram said on the DP World Dressing Room show, “A lot of people talked about India playing all their matches in Dubai. Even if they played in Pakistan, their team would have won there too in the same fashion. They won the 2024 T20 World Cup without losing a game and now won the Champions Trophy without losing even one game; that shows the depth of their cricket and leadership.”
Meanwhile, before the Champions Trophy, India suffered a 0-3 Test series loss against New Zealand despite playing at home. Rohit Sharma’s team also suffered a 1-3 loss against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar trophy and Akram reckons the captain and head coach Gautam Gambhir were under the pump.
“If you remember, they lost 3-0 to New Zealand in India, lost in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and ODI series against Sri Lanka. There was a lot of pressure to remove the captain and the coach, but sanity prevailed. The BCCI said no, this is our coach and captain, and now see, they are the champions of the champions.”
India came up with a collective effort throughout the tournament as they were able to deliver as a unit.
Rohit became the second Indian captain after MS Dhoni to win multiple ICC events. He will be next seen in action for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2025.
