Pakistan Cricket Team has had a topsy-turvy outing so far. The team was unable to lift Asia Cup and was outplayed by England and all of a sudden, they won the New Zealand Tri Series. The Men in Green had a terrific T20 World Cup 2021 where they were unbeaten in the tourney, but they failed in the Semi Final Stage against Australia.
Squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood.
Stand-by Players: Usman Qadir, Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani.
Strengths
Pakistan has got a sensational bowling line-up present in the form of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf. The pacers can easily rattle any bowling line-up on a given day. It would be interesting to see whether Shaheen Afridi can hit the purple patch immediately after a long injury layoff. The youngster creates an awkward angle for right-handed batters and is a trump card for Pakistan.
Weaknesses
Pakistan’s middle order has been a talking point for quite some time now. There’s no doubt that they have got Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, and Mohammad Nawaz; but these batters are not peaking when required. The duo Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan can’t bat 20 overs and win the championship for the nation.
X factor
Mohammad Rizwan, the wicket-keeper batter has been the silent assassin. The right-handed batter knows how to play the second fiddle as the major attention is on Babar Azam. Rizwan is someone who can frustrate the opposition by sticking to the crease. It won’t be wrong to say that Rizwan has become the backbone of Pakistan’s batting line-up.
Chances
Pakistan would be bracing itself for yet another India challenge. The Men in Green would look to take a leaf out of their 2021 performance where they shunned a billion people. Pakistan may face problems clearing the fence as in Australia the boundaries are quite big.
PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja had given a kind of warning to Babar Azam that losing is not an option. Skipper would be aware that his team can’t just fall like a pack of cards. This time, it doesn’t look like Pakistan will qualify for Semi Finals as the team is completely dependent on their openers.
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