New Delhi, February 16: Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis expressed his disappointment on Sunday following Pakistan’s loss to India in the group stage match of the T20 World Cup 2026 held in Colombo. He stated that after India scored 175 runs, Pakistan’s defeat seemed inevitable.
Speaking on Star Sports after the match, Younis highlighted the mistakes made by the Pakistan team. He remarked, “Pakistan lost the match in the first innings. 175 runs were beyond Pakistan’s reach. If India had scored 140 or 150 runs instead, things could have been different for Pakistan. We have always known that Pakistan’s batting is not strong.”
He added, “The ball was swinging, and Suryakumar Yadav made smart changes in bowling. He gave the new ball to Hardik Pandya. Jasprit Bumrah was outstanding as always, attacking the stumps and swinging the ball. After that, it became very difficult for Pakistan. When you see how much spin the Pakistani bowlers got, I don’t think they utilized it as well as India did.”
Younis also pointed out a critical mistake made by Salman Ali Agha in not giving the ball to Usman Tariq early. “Tariq was fantastic. He took one wicket and gave away only 24 runs. We have been talking about him for a long time, but he was held back for too long. By the time he got the ball, Ishan Kishan had already caused significant damage. Agha did not use the bowlers effectively,” he said.
In the match, Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first. The Indian team, led by wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan’s explosive 77 runs off 40 balls, posted a total of 175 runs for 7 wickets, with contributions from Suryakumar Yadav (32), Shivam Dube (27), and Tilak Varma (25). Pakistan was bowled out for just 114 runs in 18 overs. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, and Varun Chakravarthy each took 2 wickets, while Kuldeep Yadav and Tilak Varma claimed 1 wicket each. Ishan Kishan was named Player of the Match.
Deependra Singh Chundawat is a Senior Sub-Editor at Udaipur Kiran, specializing in a wide range of technology topics including mobile phones, applications, gaming, PCs, and wearables. Along with covering the latest tech news, he also creates engaging web stories. Passionate about emerging technologies, he stays up to date with the newest trends and enjoys reading and writing about the latest mobile launches and digital innovations.