T20 World Cup 2021 | ‘One with Virat Kohli, other against’ – Shoaib Akhtar suspects ‘two camps’ within ‘divided’ team India

11/02/2021

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar believes that there might be two camps - one with Virat Kohli and the other against him - in the Indian cricket team currently. Akhtar also added that Virat Kohli might have made some bad decisions as captain, but everyone should respect him as a cricketer.

India's T20 World Cup 2021 campaign thus far has turned out to be a disappointing one, as they have lost their first two crucial matches in Super 12s against Pakistan and New Zealand respectively. The eight-wicket defeat to the Blackcaps on Sunday has put them on the fifth position in the Group 2 points table, with a low net run-rate (NRR) of -1.60.

Ishan Kishan, who was drafted into India's XI in place of an unfit Suryakumar Yadav, was rather surprisingly sent in to open with KL Rahul ahead of the experienced Rohit Sharma. It's a decision that has sparked debates, alongside that of Ravichandran Ashwin's constant exclusion and Hardik Pandya's fitness.

Shoaib Akhtar believed that the dressing room is "divided" with two camps within.

“Why I can see that there are two camps within the team? One is with the Kohli and one against Kohli. It's crystal clear. The team is looking divided. I don't know why this is happening. Maybe it's because of his last T20 World Cup as a skipper. Maybe he made wrong decisions, which is true. But he's a great cricketer, and we have to respect him,” Akhtar said on his Youtube channel.

The former Pakistan quick further remarked that the team appeared on the backfoot after having lost the toss, and that they didn't have a proper gameplan.

"Yes, criticism is important because they played bad cricket against New Zealand and had the wrong attitude," said Akhtar. "Yesterday, after they lost the toss, everyone's heads were down. They had no idea whatsoever. India, you only lost the toss by that time, not the whole match. They were just present there, and had no gameplan whatsoever."

India will play against Afghanistan next, in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, November 3.