The Babar Azam-led Pakistan will be in action for the first time in the Cricket World Cup 2023 as they take on Netherlands in the Match no 2 of the tournament. All eyes will be on Babar, who is the number 1 batter in the world, as per ICC ODI batting rankings. Babar had two good outings in the practice match and will be looking to kickstart the tournament with a bang. A century against Netherlands will keep the Men in Green in good stead going into the tournament. Keep an eye out on the Pakistani pace battery that includes the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.
Pakistan will certainly miss the services of Naseem Shah who got ruled out because of a shoulder injury. Who Pakistan play in place of Naseem vs Netherlands will be interesting to watch. Whether Mohammad Wasim Jr comes in or Hasan Ali, only time will tell.
The other worry for Pakistan is their spin-bowling department. Shadab Khan is not in best of form and the other two bowlers- Usama Mir and Mohammad Nawaz lack quality. Mickey Arthur, Pakistan's Director of Cricket, on the form of the spinners, said, "The quality of the players that we have in those positions is undoubted. So, it's about making sure that those guys are in a great space technically, they're in a great space mentally, and then just hopefully that they click tomorrow and then from there the confidence just grows and grows and grows. So, I've got no worry around the skills of the players we have. The skills there are exceptional."
On the sidelines of the training session _#CWC23 | #DattKePakistani | #WeHaveWeWill pic.twitter.com/Wg3rJUXnp1
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 5, 2023
Keepers – Mohammad Rizwan, Scott Edwards
Batsmen – Babar Azam (c), Imam Ul Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Max O Dowd
All-rounders – Colin Ackerman, Baas de Leede, Shadab Khan
Bowlers – Shaheen Afridi (vc), Haris Rauf
Pakistan Squad: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Usama Mir, Abdullah Shafique
Netherlands Squad: Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Wesley Barresi, Scott Edwards(w/c), Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Teja Nidamanuru, Roelof van der Merwe, Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Paul van Meekeren, Ryan Klein, Aryan Dutt, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Shariz Ahmad
Netherlands Probable XI: Vikramjeet Singh, Max O'Dowd, Wesley Baressi, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru/Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (c, wk), Logan van Beek, Saqib Zulfiqar, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meerkeren, Aryan Dutt
Pakistan Probable XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam ul Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rau
Stay informed on all the latest news, real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in india news and world News on Zee News.