World Cup 2023: Waqar Younis names four star cricketers who will help Pakistan beat India in Ahmedabad

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Waqar Younis has marked his four players who will win Pakistan their World Cup 2023 match against India in October. The two teams are scheduled to play each other on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, however, the match is very likely to be rescheduled to October 14.

Notably, the original date coincides with the first day of the Hindu festival of Navaratri and Ahmedabad police have raised concerns over providing adequate security on the day.

While fans are eagerly waiting for the two arch-rivals to go against each other at the world's largest stadium, Waqar Younis has shortlisted his four match-winners from the Pakistan team.

The former pacer has picked Babar Azam, Shaeen Afridi, Fakhar Zaman and Imam-Ul-Haq are the three players who will successfully handle their nerves and lead Pakistan to a historic win against India.

He said the pressure on players during India versus Pakistan clash is more in the current scenario when compared to past as the two teams now just meet each other at ICC events.

"Pakistan team have handled pressure in a better way in the recent past. In my opinion, it doesn't matter wherever you play, irrespective of whether in India or Pakistan, if you have your process in check and are executing your skills and plans sufficiently well, so I don't think so we have any issue.

"We have match-winners, we have individuals that can win you matches single-handedly, including Babar himself, Shaheen - Fakhar can do wonders, then, of course, we have seen Imam playing great innings, so all-in-all, Pakistan has all the resources definitely, now it's just the matter of putting things together and handling pressure," Waqar said in an exclusive interview with Pakistan Cricket.

"In our times, the pressure wasn't that of a big concern as what it seems right now. The lesser you play against a team, that too against a big team - so whenever you'll play them, especially if it is Pakistan and India, the pressure would be immense and tripled.

"Pressure is always high, but maybe in our times, it was comparatively lesser because we used to play lots of cricket in my early days. But then again, in World Cup, we used to choke against India. Nonetheless, as I said, players these days are handling the pressure definitely better. These match-winners, which I mentioned earlier, they'll win us the game," the former Pakistan captain added.

Pakistan managed to beat India by 10 wickets in the T20 World Cup 2021. The win was their first against India in the World Cup. However, the Babar Azam-led side lost again in the T20 World Cup 2023. India have never lost an ODI World Cup match against Pakistan till date.