Wasim Akram believes India were favourites to win the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup and reflected on their disappointing performance.

The Pakistan cricket legend reasoned that while the Indian Premier League is the foremost T20 domestic competition in the world, the fact that Indian players are not allowed to play in competing leagues may be to the detriment of the national team.

“When you play leagues in different countries – one or two, I’m not saying play every league – at least your players get the experience to play against the other bowlers, different pitches, different teams, different conditions,” he explained.

“So I think India needs to think back… IPL is the number 1 league, yes, money-wise, talent-wise but they have to allow the players at least one or two more leagues worldwide.”

Akram also hailed the performance of winners Australia and was impressed with the way Pakistan conducted themselves during the tournament.

The former seamer was speaking at Expo 2020 in Dubai as an ambassador for Mastercard, promoting their Priceless Surprises campaign.