Warm-up games can help you work on your weaknesses and make game better: Waqar Younis

Team India has planned a comprehensive preparation for the highly anticipated ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, which will include two official warm-up matches against England and the Netherlands on September 30 and October 3, 2023, from 2:00 PM onwards, respectively. All fans and cricket enthusiasts can watch these matches live and exclusively on the Star Sports Network (Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 2) and Disney+ Hotstar.

These warm-up games are not only an opportunity for the hosts to hone their skills and put them to the test, but also for fans to get a glimpse of the form and potential of their favourite teams and players.

Speaking exclusively to Star Sports, StarCast expert for ‘Mission World Cup’, Waqar Younis spoke on the importance of the warm-up matches, he said, “Warm-up matches give you an idea about the conditions because you are going to play in another country. It gives you an idea about the conditions of the pitches when you play the warm-up games. Then, if you have some weaknesses in your team, you try to fix those things by playing these games. The intensity and pressure does not remain the same as in the actual matches. Thus, there are no worries of winning or losing the game, so due to not having that kind of pressure, you can fluently work on your weaknesses. 

So, I feel every team has already made some plans around these warm-up matches and also will keep an eye on the teams they will play against because they have to play big matches after these warm-up games with those opponents. So, they will get to know their weaknesses and can exploit them accordingly. I think warm-up matches, as I said, there will be not that kind of intensity, but obviously, you can work on your weaknesses and make your game better.”

Irfan Pathan also spoke on how crucial the warm-up games are to build momentum for the World Cup, he said, “The importance of practice games is similar to tightening nut bolts. So, the Indian team has two practice matches, and in those games, they can tighten any screws if they want to, such as the batting of Ravindra Jadeja or the combination they are looking forward to play with, or the players who are not in great form, they should be given more opportunities so that they can test their game, especially in the last 

Dale Steyn spoke on the importance of the warm-up matches as well as highlighted by not having any injuries during these matches, he said, “Yeah, from being a player in the past World Cup and tournaments that I have played in, I think the key thing is you want to play and get out of these warm-up games uninjured, that’s a big key. You want guys to be able to have some form but you have never found a form in a warm-up game. I also think they just want to find their feet, they want to get time under their belts, they want to bat for long periods, they want to have good long spells, and they want to get familiar with the conditions.

 However, at the end of the day, they really just want to get out of these warm-up games unscathed. No injuries, no broken fingers, nothing stupid, no little hamstrings, quad or ankles or something like that. I think that is the big key, you have made it all the way to the World Cup and now you don’t want to get injured”