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Cricket Players'I'm happy he's not there because Pakistan ka match ane wala hai': Waqar's hard-hitting take on India's 'real talent'
Pakistan bowling legend Waqar Younis has now made a hard-hitting statement on India star's T20 World Cup absence from the tournament before admitting that he is relieved given that he would have been a threat to the Pakistan side.
Team India auditioned as many as 28 players for the 2022 T20 World Cup, barring captain Rohit Sharma, since its last edition in the UAE in 2021. Among them, there was one particular India star who was backed immensely for the spot in the World Cup squad. His impressive show in IPL 2022 saw him earn an India call-up earlier this summer, but managed to play in only three matches for the Men in Blue before being excluded. And despite the backing he continued to receive from legends and veterans of the game, he was never called back, neither for the Asia Cup, nor for the World Cup. Pakistan bowling legend Waqar Younis has now made a hard-hitting statement on his absence from the tournament before admitting that he is relieved given that he would have been a threat to the Pakistan side.
Waqar's comment, during his interaction with A Sports, was on young India bowler Umran Malik. His raw pace and ability to pick wickets saw many former cricketers back him for a place in the Indian team. Umran earned his maiden call-up earlier in the summer. He played two matches in Ireland and one in England, picking two wickets, before being dropped from the Indian side.
Waqar, with whom Umran's bowling action is often compared with, hailed the youngster as a “real talent” and feels that he should have been included in the subsequent series so that he could practice with the Indian bowling stars which could have been a better way for him to learn rather than go back to domestic cricket.
“Yeh develop, develop ke chakkar main na bowlers kharab ho jatein hai, remember that. If you pick even the great bowlers, very early they are thrown in the deep end and they learn to swim quickly," he said.
“I'm happy he's not there because Pakistan ka match aane wala hai. He's a real talent. We spoke about this in Asia Cup as well because udhr Star ke bande team bana rahein the and woh kisiki team main nehi tha. I was really surprised kyunki yeh uss tarah se nehi sochte jis tarah se humlog sochte hai. Humlog hai ki pace hain toh theek ho jayega. And eventually aapnke dekha tha ki jo baache aaye the jo Misbah aur mere time main aaye the they are now the backbone of the bowling."
India will take on Pakistan on October 23 at the MCG in their T20 World Cup opener.
