Former players slam ‘timid’ batting approach

Shane Watson, Nasser Hussain and Wasim Akram

Former cricketers Shane Watson, Nasser Hussain and Wasim Akram slammed India's ‘timid' batting approach following team's embarrassing exit from the T20 World Cup here on Thursday. England hammered India by 10 wickets with Alex Hales and Jos Buttler striking powerful half-centuries.

As it was the case in the Group stage, India played conservatively in the powerplay managing only 38 while England's approach was the opposite as they raced to 63 in six overs. "India were too timid with the bat. Unfortunately, Rohit and KL have not been able to take the game on in the first six overs. They have got the firepower, but you have to take the game on in T20 cricket," ex-Australia player Watson told Star Sports.

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"Hardik was able to take the game on, but India should have attacked 6-8 overs earlier." As England skipper Buttler hit the winning six, Nasser Hussain on air remarked: "India were timid upfront and England have taken them down." Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said India's slow start cost them the game.

"Their start was slow and they could not recover from that. 190 probably would have been a good total on this wicket. Their captain [Rohit] looked out of touch and then of course Virat [Kohli] got his 50, but he took 40 balls to do that. That was the difference," Akram told A Sports.