Former Pakistani bowler Waqar Younis has reacted to the latest statements of former Indian captain and ex-BCCI President Sourav Ganguly about the waning interest in the India vs Pakistan clash.
The BCCI is all set to host the ODI World Cup in 2023 between October 5 and November 19 with ten teams competing against each other in the prestigious tournament. Last edition’s finalists – England and New Zealand will lock their horns with a thrilling opener to get the tournament underway.
India will start their campaign with a clash against Australia on October 8 and the Rohit Sharma-led side will lock horns with Pakistan in a high-voltage clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 15.
The IND vs PAK game is arguably the biggest from the schedule in the round-robin stage, however, Sourav Ganguly feels that the interest in Ind vs Pak clash is waning.
For the unversed, recently, in an interview, Sourav Ganguly spoke about India vs Pakistan rivalry that will be witnessed once again in the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023. Ganguly insisted the ties have largely been “one-sided.” He said:
“There is a lot of hype in this match but the quality has not been that good for a long time because India kept on winning one-sided. Pakistan probably defeated India for the first time in the T20 World Cup in Dubai,”
Waqar Younis Replied To Sourav Ganguly’s Remark
Now, Ganguly’s old-time rival, Waqar Younis has indirectly reacted to the statements from the former BCCI president. He insisted it “doesn’t matter” who says what. He said:
“I don’t want to comment on that. I feel we have had good games. The match that Pakistan won was pretty one-sided (in the 2021 T20 WC). But the ones we lost were pretty close as well. So, you can say anything you want, the matches between India and Pakistan are the biggest in the world. When the scale of the game is that big, no one’s comments really matter,”
Furthermore, Younis claimed about Pakistan defeated the Indian cricket team and cited the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy, where they defeated team India by a huge margin of 180 runs at the Oval in London. He said:
“Agar aap hamari era utha ke dekhe toh hum kabhi bhi bade tournaments mai unse nahi jeete (In our time, we did not win many major tournaments against India.) Achi baat ye ladke ye kri hai ki they have started winning (But the good thing is that these boys have started winning against India in big matches recently.) That’s a good sign.
The monkey is off the back now. Jitna talent hai hamari team mai agar vo apne potential par khelenge (So, given the talent we have in our team, if we can play to our potential) I don’t see any reason why they can’t beat India. It doesn’t matter where they play. India ho, Pakistan ho, Sri Lanka ho, agar hum Oval par jaa ke hara sakte hai toh we can beat them anywhere (If we can beat them at The Oval, we can beat them anywhere.) Talent is there; just go out there and play like we are tigers. Let’s put it that way.”
It has to be noted that before the ODI World Cup 2023, the Indian cricket team will meet Pakistan at the Asia Cup 2023. In fact, there is a possibility that India and Pakistan clash with each other in the continental tournament thrice.
India, Nepal, and Pakistan are in the same group – A, which means India and Pakistan are likely to face ace each other in a Super 4 clash on September 10. As the two dominant teams in the group. There is also a chance that both teams will meet each other in the final match as well.
