India maintained their perfect record in the 2023 World Cup by recording a first win against New Zealand in the tournament in 20 years.

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said after the match that India seem to be like a “runaway train” in this tournament. They now have a two-point lead at the top of the table and have already put one foot in the semi-finals. “India is like that runaway train that has its brakes failed. They are going that way,” said Akram on A Sports. “They have the weapons, have the merit, the skills and most importantly they know how to execute their plans.”

The win against New Zealand came despite India being dealt a major blow in the previous match. Fast bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya was ruled out and India had to bring in pacer Mohammed Shami and batter Suryakumar Yadav as cover, thus dropping their only other pace all-rounder Shardul Thakur.

Shami immediately showed his class, taking a wicket with his very first ball. While India were then made to feel the absence of a sixth bowling option during Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell's 159-run stand off just 152 balls, Shami led a remarkable recovery in the last 10 overs. India took six wickets in that period and conceded less than 60 runs. Shami took four of those, thus completing his five-wicket haul in his first match of the tournament. It meant that despite the big stand, New Zealand were all out for 273.

“They did one change according to the situation. Squads should be such, like India and New Zealand’s, that if anybody is injured or out of touch or you want to play someone according to opposition or pitch (then you have such resources available). Like India played Shami, Hardik was injured, they dropped Shardul (Thakur), SKY (Suryakumar Yadav) was brought in as a new batter. Then Shami got a wicket off the first ball of his spell,” said Akram.

“Kya zabardast chase ki hai (what a phenomenal chase). No pressure. Wickets fell, but they looked smooth, looked in control. That’s a great sign for the Indian team and Indian cricket,” Wasim said.

Wasim Akram has recently voiced his opinion on who he believes is the best middle-order batter in the world of white-ball cricket.

. The announcement came in the aftermath of a thrilling encounter during the World Cup 2023 fixture between South Africa and England. Notably, the Proteas produced a top-class performance, securing a dominant victory by a staggering margin of 229 runs.

South Africa’s victory was anchored by the formidable right-handed batsman, Heinrich Klaasen. In praise of Klaasen’s performance, Akram unequivocally named him as the best white-ball middle-order batter currently in the world of cricket.

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