KL Rahul Did Not Bat With "Do-Or-Die" Mindset: Wasim Akram On Star's Cricket World Cup Final Show

KL Rahul didn't play with a "do-or-die" mindset as he didn't want to expose India's tail-enders, which is probably one of the biggest reasons for host country's World Cup final defeat, feels Pakistan legend Wasim Akram. Batting first, India posted a modest total of 240 in 50 overs and Rahul scored a painstaking 66 off 107 balls with a solitary boundary to his credit. "If I have to pick any particular reason, I suppose the middle order should have played with a ‘do or die' mindset," he told Star Sports.

"I can understand what was going through Rahul's mind, that there was no batting to come after Jadeja and that he had to bat deep, and batting deep meant he couldn't take risks of getting out," Akram added.

Final was one game possibly when team missed all-rounder Hardik Pandya more than ever as he lends that balance in the middle-order with his power-hitting.

"If possibly Hardik was in the team, he (Rahul) probably would take that risk. But, if he had taken a risk and gotten out in this situation, then people would have criticised him for that as well," the ‘Sultan of Swing' explained.

Not scoring quickly enough between overs 20 to 40, certainly became India's undoing.

"If they had kept pace and scored quickly in the middle overs, then it would have been a different ball game.” For the 'Men in Blue', Rohit finished the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer after Virat Kohli, thanks to his attacking intent.

Meanwhile, Akram felt that captain Rohit Sharma was right in moving ahead with his attacking approach in the final, as it is what had given him success throughout the tournament.

"He's played like that in the entire World Cup, that's his game. Nobody complained throughout the World Cup with the starts he's giving,