Waqar Younis Opens Up On Pakistan's Inability To Beat India In World Cups'

Waqar Younis, former Pakistan captain, recently delved on the possible reasons behind his teams’ inability to win against arch-rivals India in World Cups.

Pakistan has a superior record against India in both ODI and Test cricket but even during their peak, the Men in Green were unable to beat India in World Cup fixtures.

The streak started way back in 1992 and since then every single 50-over and 20-over World Cup event has resulted in a defeat for the Pakistanis. Speaking to Twitter handle @GloFansOfficial, Waqar Younis said that India deserved to win every single of those matches since they played a better brand of cricket than his team.

“Over the last few World Cups, Pakistan have not won against India. We did well in other formats, we did well in Test matches, but when it comes to World Cups and ODI Cricket, India has always had an upper hand on us. And they deserve it. I think they played better cricket than us,” Waqar Younis said while answering a fan’s question.

Also Read: Waqar Younis Reveals How He Felt After Injury Dashed His 1992 World Cup Dream

‘It’s very very difficult to pinpoint on one thing’- Waqar Younis on why Pakistan struggles against India in World Cups

Waqar Younis was a part of two World Cup defeats [in 1996 & 2003] that Pakistan suffered during his playing days. While he was at the receiving end of an Ajay Jadeja assault in the 1996 Quarter-Final in Bengaluru, he was the captain of the side that was ripped to the tatters courtesy Sachin Tendulkar’s brilliance.

Reminiscing both of those encounters, Younis said that while it is difficult to pinpoint one reason behind the defeats, he reckoned that India’s ability to play a positive brand of cricket and handling of pressure as one of the major differences between the two teams.

“I remember in Bangalore and back in I think that was in Pretoria in 2003. I remember most of them and I think I have played a couple of them. So they were a very good side and I think on that particular day they just came out with a very positive frame of mind, they played better cricket and played smartly. We did not play smartly; we had games in our hands.

“If you look at the World Cup in 2011 and then of course back in ’96 also we had the game in our hand, but it is just, we… we just threw it away. It is hard to pinpoint why we do that, maybe, it’s just the pressure of the World Cup now because it happens so many times, it is just the psychological pressure on us that we just cannot really win against them but yeah, it’s very very difficult to pinpoint on one thing,” Waqar concluded.

India currently holds a 7-0 and 5-0 lead over their arch-rivals Pakistan in 50-over and 20-over World Cups respectively.

Also Read: Never Thought Sachin Tendulkar Will Be A Big Star Initially: Waqar Younis