Wasim Akram jokes about India's restful preparation for T20 World Cup

Former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram made a lighthearted remark about the Indian players' early exit from a recent IPL 2024, suggesting it could be seen as "thinking ahead" to get some rest before the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 scheduled to take place in the USA and West Indies next month. 

The final match of the 2024 Indian Premier League featured the Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, with neither team including any Indian players who will represent the men in Blue in the upcoming mega-event tournament.

Akram humorously noted that none of the players would now have to complain about being tired.

"Well, now at least none of them will have to say that they are tired. They were thinking ahead, what is the point of reaching the final, India is more important, we will play with the country. But it could be a blessing in disguise for India," Akram said.

The former Pakistan captain also expressed his earlier concerns about player fatigue, mentioning that the break might actually benefit the team. 

"We discussed in the previous show that I was worried that they might be tired, and they will be tired, no doubt. Even America is not their road. I think Pakistan's first match is Dallas if I remember. Now they will go and play there, one or two practice matches. It will be okay, I suppose. It is T20, the boys will recover, nowadays fitness levels are very high," he said.

India is in Group A alongside Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, and hosts the USA. They kick off their campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the newly-built Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, followed by a highly anticipated match against Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue. Subsequently, they will face USA and Canada on June 12 and 15, respectively.

India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad:

Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan