Former Pakistani skipper Waqar Younis backs Pakistan to do well in the T20I World Cup

Former Pakistani legendary speedster Waqar Younis believes that Pakistan men's team have an excellent chance of going all the way in the ICC T20 World Cup later this year.

Pakistan are currently sitting at the third position of the ICC men's T20 Team Rankings behind arch-nemesis India, who are currently ranked the top-ranked T20 side in the world.

Pakistan will be heading into the mega-event in Australia as one of the best sides in the shortest format of the game, full of confidence. 

They were one of the most prolific sides in the group stages of the T20 World Cup last year, held in the UAE. The Babar Azam-led side lost only one fixture throughout the tournament, which turned out to be the most crucial one, the semi-final against this year's hosts, Australia. 

Pakistan boasts two of the top-ranked batters in T20 internationals - their skipper Babar Azam and wicket-keeper Mohammed Rizwan. Former pacer Waqar Younis thinks this is an excellent sign for the Pakistan team heading into the mega event later this year.  

"We stand a really good chance of doing well at this World Cup," Waqar told ICC Digital in Melbourne recently.

"The pitches in Australia are generally very good batting pitches and Pakistan do have good batters who can really play well in these conditions.

"Babar is definitely going to be the key batter at the top of the order. I think he (Babar) will have the impact that he has always had and then of course Rizwan is playing very well and the bowling attack they have got is one of the best in the world."

The former Pakistan international also lauded the leader of their current bowling line-up, Shaheen Afridi. The rest of the attack is also quite effective, featuring the likes of Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan and many more. 

Rauf has previously performed well in Australia's domestic Big Bash League, while spin duo Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz have also impressed in recent times.

"We have tried about six or seven fast bowlers in the last year or so and they are all going really well," Waqar noted.

"I feel that Haris Rauf and Shaheen (Afridi) will be pivotal, but let's not forget Hasan Ali either as he has been bowling very decent. Pakistan's fast bowling attack is very good and they can mix it up with Shadab and Nawaz as they are good spinners also."

Talking about how Babar is rated as one of the best Pakistani batters of all time, Waqar said any comparisons should be reserved until the end of his career.

"But all those greats have their own strengths and their own class and all of them played in different eras and we should not forget that. Babar is still very young and has plenty of cricket ahead of him and once he has retired you can perhaps sit down and start comparing him with others."