Pakistan have announced their squad for the opening of Asia Cup match against Nepal which is set to take place tomorrow (Wednesday) at Multan Cricket Stadium in the Group-A clash.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said: “Our playing XI for the first match of #AsiaCup2023.”
The playing XI includes Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said that the Green Shirts will not take rival teams lightly in the Asia Cup.
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“We will maintain the winning momentum as we did in the series against Afghanistan in Sri Lanka,” said Babar while speaking during a press conference ahead of the opening Asia Cup match against Nepal.
Pakistan entered the Asia Cup with momentum on their side as they are currently the number one ODI team. This is the second instance of the team surmounting the chart since April. Pakistan also boast the best win/loss ratio of 2.750 with 22 wins in 31 matches since this World Cup cycle.
Pakistan will fly to Sri Lanka on August 31 to play India in the second Group-A match on September 2 at Kandy. The venue will also host the third and final match of the group between India and Nepal on September 4.