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Former Pakistan captain and legendary fast bowler, Wasim Akram lashed out at the Bangladesh cricket team and vented his frustration after Shakib Al Hasan's men displayed a lack of game awareness in a do-or-die T20 World Cup fixture against the Men in Green. While criticising Bangladesh players' approach, Akram went as far as claiming that their coach should arrange for a psychologist.
"Bangladesh have to blame themselves. They should. If I was the captain of the Bangladesh team or the coach of the Bangladesh team, I will make sure these guys will see psychologists. Because at one stage, Shanto was on 54 and things were going well then," Akram told A Sports' show 'The Pavilion'.
"They were 73 for 2 and I thought they'll get to 160. But then Shanto stepped out and played a weird shot off Iftikhar and was bowled. If you had kept on taking singles, the score would have reached 155 comfortably," he added.
On the back of a clinical bowling performance, Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by five wickets in a do-or-die game against Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval on November 06 (Sunday) and qualified for the semi-finals. The Men in Green's premier pacer Shaheen Afridi picked up a career-best four-wicket haul to help Pakistan restrict Bangladesh to a paltry 127/8 in 20 overs.
"In an international level, when you see a certain bowler was coming to bowl and you know that the opposition captain has brought him to take wickets, that's where you don't play a shot. You try to rotate the strike in that particular over but the Bangladesh players made up their minds to hit him and hit Shaheen only," Akram added.
Pakistan will lock horns against New Zealand in the first semi-final at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on November 09 (Wednesday).
