IRE vs PAK: Waqar Younis in a state of shock after Pakistan's loss; takes to Twitter and lashes out

Pakistan's legendary former seamer Waqar Younis could not believe his eyes that Ireland defeated a full-strength Pakistani team yesterday in the 1st T20I.

Ireland had welcomed the Men in Green at the Clontarf Cricket Ground for the 1st of a 3-match T20I series as part of their preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup. The Irish team are considered as minnows of world cricket but to everyone's surprise, they were able to defeat a full-strength Pakistani team, that too, quite convincingly.

Waqar Younis expresses shock via X

After Ireland picked up a shocking victory in the all to play for T20I series against Pakistan, former right-arm pacer Waqar Younis was in absolute shock. It won't just be him but almost every former Pakistani cricketer and cricket pundits around the world were shell-shocked as to how the Irish lads won.

Are you serious 🧐 #<!---->P<!---->A<!---->K<!---->v<!---->I<!---->R<!---->E What’s wrong with this Pakistan team ???Congratulations #<!---->T<!---->e<!---->a<!---->m<!---->I<!---->r<!---->e<!---->l<!---->a<!---->n<!---->d 👏👏

— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) M<!---->a<!---->y<!----> <!---->1<!---->1<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->2<!---->4

To express himself, Waqar Younis took to X (formerly Twitter) and asked what's going wrong with the Pakistani team.

"Are you serious 🧐 #PAKvIRE What’s wrong with this Pakistan team ???Congratulations #TeamIreland 👏👏" - Waqar Younis wrote on X.

Younis' comments also were in the context of Babar Azam's side playing out a 2-2 draw against a third-string New Zealand team in last month's T20I series.

Babar Azam's side had welcomed the Kiwis for a 5-match series and after winning the 2nd T20I, the hosts lost back-to-back matches before equaling in the last match.

It would have been easier to believe if Pakistan did not have players like Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, and Shaheen Afridi among others but despite their presence, results like these are concerning and alarming.

This is not at all, a good sign for the Green Army who will be participating in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in less than a month. They still have more matches against Ireland to stage a comeback and there are two ways in which they can perceive this loss.

First, they can use it as a reality check and come back stronger. And second will be to get demotivated and further succumb to the pressure and end up losing the series by 3-0.

After this series against Ireland which concludes on 14th of May, Pakistan will cross borders to take on reigning T20 World Champions England. The Green Army will play a 4-match T20I series against Jos Buttler's Three Lions from May 22nd onwards.

Pakistan still have 6 T20Is to play before their opening clash at the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. A statistic that Babar Azam won't like is that his team has won only 2 out of their last 5 T20 matches against the Kiwis and the Irish.

Andrew Balbirnie stars in sensational run-chase

Ireland's opening batter Andrew Balbirnie starred against Pakistan in the run-chase as his 55-ball 77 made the ultimate difference.

Skipper Paul Stirling and number 3 batter Lorcan Tucker had scored a combined 12 runs while Harry Tector, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, and Curtis Campher scored 36, 24, 10, and 15. The hosts scored the winning runs in the 5th ball of the 20th over and claimed victory by 5-wickets.