Waqar Younis
File photo of former Pakistan skipper Waqar YounisArif Ali/AFP/Getty Images

The 11th edition of Women's World Cup, which is currently underway in England, is proving to be an exciting affair with leading female cricketers from around the globe giving it their all in pursuit of glory.

With only a few games into the tournament, we have already seen record books being rewritten. Highly competitive games have made sure the Women's World Cup is among the most talked-about sporting events at the moment.

Right from Smriti Mandhana's back-to-back match-winning knocks, to the record-breaking match in Bristol between Sri Lanka and Australia — in which Chamari Atapattu smashed 178, the third-highest score in women's ODI, which was followed shortly with a match-winning 152 by Australian skipper Meg Lanning — there has been no dearth of quality cricket and entertainment in the tournament.

The International Cricket Council, in its efforts to help women's cricket match the hype around men's game, had doubled the prize money of the ongoing quadrennial event and also announced all the matches will be broadcast live for the first time.

Amidst all the positivity surrounding the elite tournament, Pakistan cricket legend Waqar Younis stunned the cricket fraternity when he called for a shorter format for the Women's World Cup. In a Tweet, the pacer said the competition should have 30 overs an innings and quoted the example of tennis, in which women's singles has three sets compared to five in men's game.

Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana has been winning hearts with her performances in the ongoing tournamentRichard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Waqar though was quick to clarify that he meant no discrimination or prejudice towards women's cricket, but that he had only suggested to make the game more competitive and attractive.

However, the thread did not go down well with the cricket fraternity. While a few mocked and ridiculed Waqar's suggestion, others, inclduing Australia women's team wicketkeeper batsman Alyssa Healy, took the help of statistics to disagree with the former Pakistan skipper.