PAK vs NED: "We Are In The Middle Of A World Cup, We All Have To Stay Positive" - Former Pakistan Skipper Waqar Younis Says After Loss Against Zimbabwe

Pakistan suffered a shocking one-run defeat against Zimbabwe in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Group 2 Super 12 match at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Thursday, October 27. Pakistan’s legendary fast bowler Waqar Younis asked his team to stay positive following their defeat.

Despite an impressive bowling performance, Pakistan’s batting lineup failed to chase down the target of 130 runs. Shan Masood rescued Pakistan after a bad start as both the openers were dismissed for low scores once again. The left-handed batsman scored 44 off 38 balls, but he could not finish the game for his team.

The Babar Azam-led team kept losing wickets at regular intervals, which proved costly in the end. Zimbabwe’s all-rounder Sikander Raza took three wickets, while Brad Evans also grabbed a couple of wickets. Blessing Muzarabani and Luke Jongwe took a wicket each.

Waqar mentioned the areas in which Pakistan need to improve to keep their semi-final hopes alive. The 50-year-old stated that change must start from the top and asked the team’s openers, Babar and Mohammad Rizwan, to bat with a more positive attitude.

Openers Have To Come Out For Aggressively – Waqar Younis

“We are in the middle of a World Cup, so I think we all have to stay positive. And our openers have to come out for aggressively. I am not going to worry about losing a wicket. Our openers need to come out all guns blazing,” Waqar said on ASports on Thursday.

I Will Play Mohammad Hasnain In Place Of Shaheen Afridi – Waqar Younis

The former Pakistan captain highlighted concerns about Shaheen Shah Afridi, who had another poor performance. He didn’t look fully fit, and went wicketless in two consecutive matches in the World Cup.

“In the bowling, you have to watch Shaheen very closely. How is he going? He is our asset. But you have lot of cricket ahead of you, not just this World Cup. We have (Mohammad) Hasnain in the team. If you really think that Shaheen is not hitting the strides yet, then I will play him (Hasnain). These are the things you need to do.”

Pakistan Have To Make Sure That They Start Fielding Well – Waqar Younis

Waqar was also disappointed with Pakistan’s poor performance on the field and urged the team to improve quickly. He said, “Also Pakistan have to make sure that they start fielding well. They dropped two catches today. Today the match went to the last ball because it was Zimbabwe. If we had played like this against a big team, we would have lost very badly!”

Pakistan will take on the Netherlands in a Group 2 Super 12 match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday, October 30.

Also read: IND vs NED: Indian Star Batter Virat Kohli Surpasses Chris Gayle To Become Second Leading Scorer In T20 World Cup History