Babar Azam's Pakistan announce unchanged playing XI for IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2023’s Super-4 clash

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have announced an unchanged playing XI for their Asia Cup 2023’s Super-4 clash against arch-rivals India. The match is scheduled to be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, September 10. The game also a reserve day due to a poor weather forecast.

The Men in Green have retained their lineup after registering a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in their Super-4 game at Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday, September 6.

Faheem Ashraf is the only player who didn’t play against India in the previous Asia Cup group-stage game. He will replace all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz, who returned wicketless in that fixture.

A reason for this could be that spinners were not effective against India and adding more pace might help the Pakistanis in the middle overs. Ashraf, a pace-bowling all-rounder would be a better fit in that case as compared to Nawaz, who failed to make much of an impact with his spin.

The match was abandoned due to rain after the Men in Blue were bundled out for 266 in 48.5 overs.

Pak playing XI: Babar Azam ©, Shadab Khan (vc), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Faheem Ashraf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.

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“Proud of my pacer” – Babar Azam ahead of India-Pakistan Asia Cup 2023’s Super-4 clash

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has lauded his pacers ahead of the highly-anticipated India-Pakistan game on Sunday. He told in the pre-match press conference:

"I am proud of my pacers. We dominate everyone. Big matches and tournaments are won by fast bowlers. I have my belief in them. The secret behind their success is that they stay united and have belief in themselves. If one does not have a good day, the other one steps up and covers up for it.”

For the uninitiated, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah dominated the Indian batting unit in the opening game. The trio reduced the Men in Blue to 66/4 before Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya staged a comeback.

Afridi emerged as the pick of the bowlers, finishing with figures of 4/35, while Rauf and Shah scalped three wickets apiece. Together, the trio have scalped 25 wickets in just three games of the ongoing tournament.

The batting unit has been equally good, with Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Rizwan’s half-centuries against Bangladesh. Earlier, Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed smashed centuries against Nepal in the Asia Cup opener.

Pakistan are chasing their first win against India since the 2017 Champions Trophy final. They lost to India in the 2018 Asia Cup and 2019 World Cup before the recently concluded Asia Cup game was called off due to rain.