Pakistani bowling legend Waqar Younis reasoned that Indian players didn’t show the kind of courage they show in IPL during the T20 World Cup 2022 after the Men in Blue lost to England in the second semi-final at Adelaide and were knocked out of the competition.
In what was a humiliating and heartbreaking defeat, England openers Jos Buttler (80*) and Alex Hales (86*) made a mockery of the 169-run target set by India, as it was achieved in just 16 overs, and England will now face Pakistan in the final at MCG on Sunday.
Younis, while speaking on Pakistan’s sports channel A Sports, felt that it’s the burden of replicating their IPL performances that is taking a toll on Indian cricketers, who looked out of their usual character in Adelaide on Thursday.
“Look, when the stakes are high then the pressure is too high. I feel that IPL is a mega event. There are a lot of things at stake, big businessmen are involved, and it’s a huge company.
When you play a mega event like this and play in international cricket, there is an added pressure. When you reach the knockout stages, then that burden is something you really feel on your shoulders. I feel it was evident today (on Thursday) and last year in the UAE as well. Jis dileri se wahaan par khelte the wo dileri yahaan nazar nhi aa rhi (They didn’t show the courage they usually show in the IPL,” Younis said on A Sports show ‘The Pavilion’.
The former Pakistan captain further pointed that all the big Indian batters went into a shell and were not aggressive against English spinners.
“If you look at their big names, you take KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli who have centuries to their names. But today it just felt like they were in a shell. They scored just 41 runs against England spinners while there were no cross-bat shots despite being the boundaries being smaller. They were just worried, they should be thankful to Hardik Pandya, otherwise they would have scored 120-125 runs,” Younis said.
India will now travel to New Zealand for three ODIs and three T20Is.
