Babar Azam Reveals Why Pakistan Cricket Announced Early Playing XI
Karachi: Pakistan captain Babar Azam revealed why Pakistan announced their playing XI early in the Asia Cup 2023 opener clash against Nepal on Wednesday. During the toss, Pakistan captain revealed that they want to give confidence to their team for the tournament.
Pakistan already won the toss and opted to bat first against Nepal at Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan.
“Will bat first, pitch looks very dry and shiny. No reason to name the XI earlier, we wanted to give confidence to our team. To be honest, being top-ranked team brings good pressure, we’ll try to enjoy and do our best” said Babar Azam on Toss.
Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel said at the time of toss, “Everyone is very happy, it is our first game in the Asia Cup. Everyone in Nepal is really excited for this game. Most of the things here are very similar to Nepal, looks like a beautiful wicket to bat on.”
Pakistan (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
Nepal (Playing XI): Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh(w), Rohit Paudel(c), Aarif Sheikh, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi