Waqar Younis Reckons Pakistan 'Got It Totally Wrong' Against India In The 2019 World Cup

Waqar Younis, former Pakistan captain, and their current bowling coach has reckoned that his team got it totally wrong during their high-voltage World Cup encounter against arch-rivals India at Old Trafford in 2019.

With rain having made its presence felt in the lead-up to the Indo-Pak encounter, former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and decided to bowl first, something that Waqar Younis feels, was a huge mistake.

It, of course, turned out to be a blunder for Pakistan as Rohit Sharma [140], KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli proceeded to shellack the Pakistani bowling attack to all corners of Old Trafford.

“I think Pakistan got it totally wrong against India in 2019 starting right from the toss. I think they were hoping that the pitch will do a lot more and they will get early wickets which will put India under pressure. But, India had very seasoned openers and they did not really let the bowler settle. And, the pitch did not really do much and once they get going it was very difficult to stop them. They piled up so many runs to which Pakistan had no answers at all.” Waqar Younis said during an interaction with Twitter handle @GloFansOfficial.

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‘I think it was a silly mistake’- Waqar Younis on Pakistan winning the toss and electing to bowl against India in the 2019 World Cup

India went on to post 5-336 after 50 overs, a total which eventually proved to be a bit too much for the Pakistanis. Pakistan got off to a disastrous start to their run-chase as they lost opener Imam Ul Haq LBW to Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s replacement Vijay Shankar.

“So, I think it was a silly mistake when, to begin with, winning the toss and asking India to bat because batting first on that pitch was the way to go and it did not really help Pakistan that day and India was too good, way too good,” Waqar Younis further added.

Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman accumulated 113 runs for the second wicket but then Kuldeep Yadav’s magic delivery to Azam once again turned the match in India’s favor. Pakistan endured a horrible collapse post-Babar’s dismissal and they eventually finished at 6-212 in 40 overs.

India won the match by 89 runs (DLS method), extending their winning streak against Pakistan in World Cups’ to 7-0.

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