Legendary pacer Waqar Younis rated India a better side over Pakistan going into the World Cup 2023 while basing his observation on the better preparation of the Rohit Sharma-led team ahead of the quadrennial big bash. India had recently won the Asia Cup and handed a massive 228-run defeat to their arch-rivals in a Super 4 match at Colombo.
In the World Cup, India will face Pakistan on October 14 in Ahmedabad, and Younis said pressure will be there on both the outfits but said Men in Blue just could have an edge. “As we all know, it (India vs Pakistan) will be the biggest game, mother of all the games. So, when you play in Ahmedabad, 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 also be under pressure because the crowd in the stadium will create pressure on both the teams,” Younis told Star Sports.
“However, if we judge purely based on the team’s performance, India definitely will be a better team,” he added. Younis was also mindful of the Pakistani’s unstable form, and said the injury-enforced absence of pacer Naseem Shah could put them in a significant disadvantage.
“If I talk about Pakistan, they are a miss and hit this time. The absence of Naseem Shah will be a big disadvantage because Naseem and Shaheen (Afridi) used to complement each other with new ball.”
“Though Hasan Ali has been declared as his replacement; he has got a lot of experience and gave brilliant performances in the past, but I feel, to suddenly come and perform on this kind of big stage will not be an easy task for him,” said Younis.
Analysing the Indian squad, Younis said the team has great spinners, while its bench strength is equally potent. “If we only talk about ticking the boxes then we will see no other team can match India right now because they have good spinners, who are playing right now in the starting XI such as Kuldeep, Jadeja. But they also have strong bench strength.”
