IND vs PAK: Pakistan Announce Playing 11 For Asia Cup 2023 Super Four Clash Against India
IND vs PAK: Much their Group Stage face-off, Pakistan have announced their Playing XI on the eve of their match against India in the Super Fours stage.
Babar Azam led Pakistan have announced their Playing 11 ahead of their Super Four match against India at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday (September 10, 2023). The two teams had met the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy for a group-stage face-off but the match had ended without a result with rain playing spoilsport. Apart from skipper Babar, Fakhar Zaman, Imam ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar, Salman Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf are the 11 chosen to take the field against India on Sunday.
In India and Pakistan's most recent face-off, which happened earlier in the continental tournament, India had won the toss and elected to bat first. India's innings did happen but saw rain interruptions. Shaheen Shah Afridi had emerged as Pakistan's wrecker-in-chief and scalped the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in successive overs before returning to pick the wickets of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. He finished with figures of 4 for 35.
In fact, this match was the first time ever that pacers shared all the 10 wickets between themselves in Asia Cup history. Other than Shaheen's four-wicket haul, Naseem Shah scalped 3 for 36 while Haris Rauf finished with 3 for 58. Pakistan needed 267 to win before rain returned again and the match could not be resumed post that. As the two teams are set to square off again, India's biggest challenge would be how they tackle the Pakistani fast bowling challenge especially with the new ball.
Also Read | IND vs PAK, Colombo Weather Report: India vs Pakistan Super 4 Match Face Rain Threat. Check Details
Pakistan skipper Babar, meanwhile, seems confident and reckons that the Men in Green have an edge over India since they have been playing in Sri Lankan conditions in the build up to Asia Cup 2023.
"Given the continuous cricket we are playing both in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, you can say that we hold an edge (over India)," Babar said at a press conference ahead of the match.