India vs Pakistan will be the biggest game, mother of all games in World Cup: Waqar Younis

Pakistan is gearing up for an exciting showdown against New Zealand in their first warm-up game on 29^th September, a crucial step in their preparation for the highly anticipated ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Cricket enthusiasts and fans alike will not want to miss a moment of the action.

These warm-up encounters serve as a dual purpose—not only providing the hosts with a platform to sharpen their skills and assess their readiness but also granting fans a tantalizing glimpse into the form and potential of their beloved teams and favorite players. It's an occasion to savor for both players and supporters as the cricketing excitement builds towards the World Cup.

Speaking exclusively to Star Sports, StarCast expert for ‘Mission World Cup’, Waqar Younis spoke about the massive scores that are becoming increasingly common in ODI matches these days, he said, “I feel that I am very fortunate that I am not playing right now, so I am out of there. So, I have not seen scores like 400 runs in my career when I used to play. Now, this is like a routine score such as 350, 375, or 400 and also it’s not like these big scores are not possible to chase rather these big score matches are always considered to be dangerous. Since the World Cup is in India this time, it is a mega tournament, we all know about the pitch conditions, and therefore I feel the bowler will have a lot of trouble playing on this kind of pitches. If they can take some early wickets in the first 2-4 overs then they can save themselves to some extent otherwise if the batsmen are set then it will be really difficult for them to save runs.”

Waqar Younis also discussed the Indian squad, their form, performance, and backup players, he said, “If we only talk about ticking the boxes then we will see no other team can match India, even Pakistan or any other team will not match India right now because India also have good spinners, not only the spinners who are playing right now in starting XI such as Kuldeep, Jadeja but also they have a strong bench strength. So, if by any chance, they face any injuries, the players who are sitting at the bench can’t be ignored due to their fantastic current form.”

He also talked about the Pakistan squad, their form, and performance, and highlighted the big disadvantage of not having Naseem Shah in their squad, he said, “Now, if I talk about Pakistan, they are miss and hit this time. The absence of Naseem Shah will be a big disadvantage because Naseem and Shaheen used to complement each other with new ball. The new ball is always crucial for us not only for this world cup but also if you can see overall matches, it has been always a very important factor for us over the years and in the past world cups also. When we used to strike and take wickets with the new ball, then we use to get some momentum for staying in a better position in the game. So, the absence of Naseem Shah is a very big loss for Pakistan.

Though, Hasan Ali has been declared as his replacement; he has got a lot of experience and has given brilliant performances in the past as well but I feel that suddenly coming and performing in this kind of big stage will not be an easy task for him. Then again, as we all know, it will be the biggest game, mother of all the games. So, when you play in Ahmedabad, which has one of the biggest and finest stadiums in the world, you will have to control your nerves and not only Pakistan will be under pressure since it is a weaker team as compared to India but India will be also under pressure because the crowd in the stadium will create pressure on both the teams and that will balance the pressure in the game. However, if we judge purely based on the team’s performance, clearly India definitely will be a better team.”