Pakistan legend Waqar Younis was recently heavily criticized on social media for undermining the Indian cricket team after Shaheen Shah Afridi was ruled out of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 in the UAE.
Shaheen, Pakistan’s premier pacer, was ruled out of the Asia Cup 2022 after he failed to recover in time from a knee injury. His absence is a big blow for the Men in Green, as the young gun helped the side beat Team India by 10 wickets in a T20 World Cup 2022 group match in Dubai – the same venue where the old foes revive the rivalry on Sunday (August 28).
Waqar Younis took to Twitter to target India, saying that it is a big relief for Men in Blue's top order that Shaheen Afridi will not play in Asia Cup 2022, for which he received backlash from Indian fans, and now he has issued a clarification on his viral tweet.
Younis told sports journalist Vimal Kumar in an interaction hosted by OneCricket: “Shaheen ki absence ek big relief toh hai saare openers ke liye. Indians ka maine bas thoda masala... but ye bhi mohabbat nai, aisa nahi hai ke koi dushmani hai. (Shaheen's absence is a big relief to all openers but I tweeted about Indians just to spice it up. It's just banter and I don't have any hatred towards anyone).”
He continued, “I can point out some technical issues as well. If you look at the history, Indian openers in World Cup or Champions Trophy struggle against left-arm pacers who bring the ball back into right-handers. A left-arm fast bowler who gets the ball to move in will trouble anyone, not just Indians.”
Younis signed off by saying, “Any batter would not like the ball coming in towards the stumps. As a bowler, I always advise hitting the top of those three stumps. Shaheen's delivery comes in nicely from a good height... that is a big problem for the openers.”
