Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar thinks that the Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was a bit “confused”and the whole Pakistan team lacked “imagination” during their face off against arch-rivals India on Sunday.
The Men in Blue thumped Pakistan by 89 runs after they set a target of 337 runs to win as Rohit Sharma scored a brilliant ton and beside him skipper Kohli & KL Rahul hit half centuries.
“I thought he (Sarfaraz) was confused because when Wahab (Riaz) was bowling he had a short mid-wicket. And when Shadab (Khan) came on to bowl he had a slip for him,” Tendulkar said.
“In these conditions it becomes difficult for a leg-spinner to grip the ball, especially when he’s not getting the right line and length. That is not the right way to approach a big game,” he added.
“They lacked imagination, lacked out of the box thinking.”
Tendulkar said none of the Pakistani bowlers managed to exploit the conditions and he never felt an Indian wicket would fall because of the opposition tactics.
“If the ball is not moving around much, you don’t continue bowling over the wicket, Wahab (Riaz) went around the wicket but it was too late by then,” Tendulkar opined.
“Hassan (Ali) was the only guy to get the ball to move off the surface. I would have told them to change the angle and do something different. I never thought we were going to lose a wicket,” he added.
Undefeated India will next play Afghanistan on Saturday in Southampton.