Ahead of the much-awaited Asia Cup 2023, PCB announced their playing XI for the opening game of the Asia Cup against Nepal in Multan on Wednesday.
PCB Announces Pakistan Playing 11 for Asia Cup Opener
The 16th edition of the Asia Cup tournament is scheduled to play between August – September and will be jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Asia Cup 2023 will also be the first of its kind to be co-hosted by multiple countries.
Four matches of the Asia Cup 2023 will be played in Pakistan while the remaining nine matches of the tournament will be played in Sri Lanka.
The six teams of the Asia Cup 2023 will be divided into 2 groups of three teams. The top 2 teams of the Asia Cup 2023 points table of each group will advance to the Super Four round where the top two teams will advance to the final.
Pakistan have gone heavy on batting depth for their first match of Asia Cup 2023 against Nepal. Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz will be aided by Salman Agha in the spin department.
The batting line-up has a familiar look with Iftikhar coming back into the middle-order after missing the final ODI against Afghanistan.
Iftikhar Ahmed slots into the middle-order while Saud Shakeel makes way. There was also no room for pacer Mohammad Wasim with Pakistan opting to go with Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.
Pakistan Playing 11 for Asia Cup Opener
- Babar Azam (c)
- Fakhar Zaman
- Imam ul Haq
- Mohammad Rizwan
- Iftikhar Ahmed
- Salman Agha
- Shadab Khan
- Mohammad Nawaz
- Shaheen Afridi
- Naseem Shah
- Haris Rauf
