‘I feel the bowler will have a lot of trouble’ – Waqar Younis on ODI World Cup 2023 matches

Pakistan’s former cricketer, Waqar Younis recently opened up about India and Pakistan clash in the ODI World Cup, 2023. The high-intensity game will take place in the world’s biggest stadium, the Narendra Modi stadium, Ahmedabad on 14 October from 1:30 PM IST.

India and Pakistan previously met twice in the Asia Cup 2023, where in the first game was washed away due to rain while the second was won by India by a huge margin of 128 runs. 

Waqar Younis got candid on the star sports television program ‘Mission World Cup’ and said he feels fortunate that he is not a part of the squad, considering he announced his retirement the previous month. Waqar believes India will be unbeatable in this tournament, and it is not because they’re playing at home, but because they have a really good playing XI. 

Waqar Younis on IND vs PAK clash in the ODI World Cup 2023

“I feel that I am very fortunate that I am not playing right now, so I am out of there. So, I have not seen scores like 400 runs in my career when I used to play. Now, this is like a routine score such as 350, 375, or 400 and also it’s not like these big scores are not possible to chase, rather these big score matches are always considered to be dangerous”, said Waqar Younis. 

“Since the World Cup is in India this time, it is a mega tournament, we all know about the pitch conditions, and therefore I feel the bowler will have a lot of trouble playing on this kind of pitches. If they can take some early wickets in the first 2-4 overs then they can save themselves to some extent otherwise if the batsmen are set then it will be really difficult for them to save runs”, he discussed. 

“If we only talk about ticking the boxes then we will see no other team can match India, even Pakistan or any other team will not match India right now because India also have good spinners, not only the spinners who are playing right now in starting XI such as Kuldeep, Jadeja but also they have a strong bench strength. So, if by any chance, they face any injuries, the players who are sitting at the bench can’t be ignored due to their fantastic current form”, concluded Waqar Younis.