Pakistan Cricket announced its playing XI for the Asia Cup 2023 Super Fours encounter against India at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on September 10. Pakistan did not make any changes to the winning combination after a comfortable win over Bangladesh on September 6.
Pakistan team management decided to go with just two spinners as Faheem Ashraf retained his side. Mohammad Nawaz was dropped after he leaked 55 runs from eight overs against India. Many criticised Babar Azam for allowing Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya to settle against spinners after their pacers wreaked havoc with the new ball.
Ashraf was economical against Bangladesh conceding 27 runs from seven overs. He also picked up the crucial wicket of Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan.
Pakistan Playing XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
Ahead of the encounter which may get washed out due to rain, Azam feels that Pakistan have an edge over their arch-rivals.
“Given the continuous cricket we are playing both in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, you can say that we hold an edge (over India)," said the 28-year-old in the pre-match press conference.
“We have been playing here in Sri Lanka for the past two months or so. We have played Tests, we played a series against Afghanistan and then the LPL... So it can be said that we have an advantage.”
While Pakistan spinners were not effective against India in the group stage game, Azam has backed them to provide breakthrough in the middle overs.
“Yes, we get a good start (with the ball) and the plan always is to bowl good in middle overs. The effort is to have an effective combination. We need wickets in the middle overs but we are not getting them.
“But you can see that we are finishing good. Our pacers are doing well at the end. This is a team performance. If someone fails, then another bowler chips in,” said Azam.
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