‘Pakistan have handled pressure in a better way in recent past’ - Waqar Younis confident of Pakistan’s chances against India in ODI World Cup

Pakistan have never defeated India in the ODI World Cup. Keeping that in mind, former cricketer Waqar Younis stated that this is the ideal time for them to change that stat. The 51-year-old believes that the Babar Azam-led has all the capability as they have now learned the art of handling pressure.

Notably, Pakistan have defeated India multiple times in the last few years. In the T20 World Cup 2021, the Men in Green won by 10 wickets in the Super 4 of the Asia Cup last year, they once again managed to get the job done. Conversely, India managed to win against them in the league stage of last year’s Asia Cup and then in the T20 World Cup. Thus, he believes the pressure will be on both teams this time but added that Pakistan might have the advantage.

“The lesser you play against a team, that too against a big team – so whenever you will play them, especially if it is Pakistan and India, the pressure would be immense and tripled. But then again, in the World Cup, we used to choke against India. Nonetheless, as I said, players, these days are handling the pressure definitely better,” Younis said while speaking to Cricket Pakistan.

“We have match-winners, we have individuals that can win you matches single-handedly, including Babar himself, Shaheen – Fakhar can do wonders, then, of course, we have seen Imam playing great innings. Pakistan team have handled pressure in a better way in the recent past,” he added.

World Cup game between two arch rivals most likely to get re-scheduled

Meanwhile, India and Pakistan are scheduled to face each other on October 15, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad. However, due to festivities, the security agency has asked BCCI and ICC to change the date and as per reports, it might get preponed to October 14. Ahead of that, both teams will face each other in the upcoming Asia Cup on September 2, in Sri Lanka. Interestingly, if both teams manage to qualify for the next round, they will once again face each other in the Super 4 round of the tournament.