Former Pakistani fast bowler Waqar Younis has replied to former India captain Sourav Ganguly’s remark about the waning interest in India vs Pakistan games, ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023 which begins on October 5 in India.
India and Pakistan first met in a World Cup game in 1992 and since then India has been unbeaten in the ODI format in the ICC event. On the other hand, Pakistan only defeated India recently in the T20 World Cup in 2021, but India avenged that defeat with one of the greatest wins in the T20 World Cup 2022.
The two sides will meet again in the ICC World Cup 2023 on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Speaking about the India v Pakistan rivalry, Sourav Ganguly insisted the ties have largely been “one-sided.”
"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," Ganguly had said.
Now, his one time on-field rival, Waqar Younis, chose to not directly react to the statement but insisted it “doesn't matter” who says what.
“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,” the former Pakistan captain further added in a video posted by paktv.tv.
Furthermore, Younis made a huge claim about Pakistan defeating India and cited the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy, where the Men in Green defeated India by a huge margin of 180 runs at the Oval in London.
According to Younis, if Pakistan play to their potential, they can win anywhere against India, who have also won the Asia Cup a record seven times.
Speaking at the Asia Cup trophy unveiling program in Lahore on Wednesday, Younis 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."
Before the World Cup this year, India and Pakistan will meet in the Asia Cup on September 2 and will renew their rivalry in the Super Four stage of the tournament, given both sides qualify.
