‘Crystal clear’ two camps in Team India, one against Kohli, says Shoaib

Former Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar has blamed divisions in the Indian team for their abject performance in the T20 World Cup in the UAE so far.

The remarks came after the Virat Kohli-led team lost their second Group 2 match against New Zealand on Sunday by 8 wickets. It was India’s second straight loss in the tournament, after the 10-week thrashing at the hands of Pakistan in their opener. 

In a video on his YouTube channel, the former fast bowler said there seemed to be two factions in the team, with one against Kohli, who will step down as T20 captain at the end of India’s World Cup campaign. 

“Why I can see that there are two camps in the team? One is with Kohli and one is against Kohli. It’s crystal clear. The team is looking divided,” he said.

“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.

He also criticised India for their attitude going into the match against New Zealand.

“Yes criticism is important because they played bad cricket against New Zealand and had the wrong attitude. 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 their third game at the World Cup against Afghanistan on Wednesday.