The on-field rivalry between India and Pakistan has gotten limited to the ICC and ACC tournaments but there’s no end to the war of words between stalwarts of the two nations. Statements from one invite reactions from the other and the cycle goes on. The fans have seen banters between the likes of Shahid Afridi and Gautam Gambhir even after they quit international cricket. And now, former India captain Sourav Ganguly’s statement on India vs Pakistan matches is garnering strong reactions from the neighbourhood.
Ganguly recently said the Indo-Pak cricket matches have not lived up to their hype lately as India have got the better of their arch-rivals more often, making the face-offs once-sided. Rather India taking on Australia in World Cups are much more intriguing.
“There is a lot of hype in this match but the quality has not been that good for a long time because India kept on winning one-sided. Pakistan probably defeated India for the first time in the T20 World Cup in Dubai.
“India did not play well in that tournament (2021 T20 WC) but according to me, India vs Australia tends to be a better game in the World Cup because the quality is better,” Ganguly had said.
Responding to Ganguly’s statement, former Pakistan speedster Waqar Younis came up with a blunt remark, stating that the scale of India versus Pakistan games is so large and individual comments don’t matter too much.
“I don’t want to comment on that. I feel we have had good games. The match that Pakistan won was pretty one-sided (in the 2021 T20 WC). But the ones we lost were pretty close as well. So, you can say anything you want, the matches between India and Pakistan are the biggest in the world. When the scale of the game is that big, no one’s comments really matter,” Younis said in a video posted by paktv.tv.
India vs Pakistan in Asia Cup and World Cup
The arch-rivals will face each other in the upcoming Asia Cup 2023, which will be a 50-over affair this time, on September 2 in Kandy. There’s a possibility that India and Pakistan might play against each other thrice, including the group stage game, if both teams qualify for the Super Fours followed by the Final.
A month later, India and Pakistan will lock horns once again in the ICC World Cup 2023 on October 15 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
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