Former Indian cricketer Ravi Ashwin praised India’s tactical brilliance in their dominant win over Pakistan at Dubai. He also slammed the men in green for failing to adapt to the conditions and questioned their intent against the men in blue.
Ashwin Points Out Tactical and Technical Gaps in Pakistan’s Batting
Ashwin assessed Pakistan’s lacklustre performance on the field despite having a decent team on paper. He criticized Mohammed Haris’ reckless shot against Bumrah and Shaheen Shah Afridi’s execution against Abhishek Sharma.
“Apart from Saim Ayub, I don't think the Pakistan team has a lot of class. If we compare the batting of both sides, Abhishek Sharma stepped out on the first ball and used his feet against Shaheen Shah Afridi. In stark contrast, Mohammad Haris was rooted in the crease trying to heave Jasprit Bumrah across the line, and the ball went straight up. You cannot play such a shot against Bumrah; this is not the Oman team. You can hit bowlers like that, but it is not the same here," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
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He further pointed out Pakistan’s poor tactical awareness compared to India, stressing the visible gap in strategy and execution.
“Pakistan has also been tactically very poor. Even Hasan Nawaz was looking to hit without any foot movement. Look at Tilak Varma instead; he played the reverse sweep, scored through the off side, and played the slog sweep. So, India tactically, technically, and strategically are in a different league," he added.
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Ashwin Credits IPL for India’s Tactical Edge and Batting Depth
Finally, Ashwin hailed the IPL for shaping players to handle pressure and play aggressively from ball one, calling this the strongest Indian T20 team on paper.
"This is the strongest Indian T20 team that we have put on against Pakistan. That is the way I like to look at it. This is not explosive batting, but it is just unbelievably good, tactical, proper batting. Where did the Indian players get this exposure? Through the IPL. The players are used to playing shots under pressure now. It is a habit now," the former Indian player concluded.
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