Pakistan captain Babar Azam (AFP Image)
PAK VS NEP, ASIA CUP 2023: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat first against Nepal at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
ASIA CUP 2023: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat first against Nepal at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
“We 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 the top ranked team brings a good kind of pressure, we’ll try to enjoy and do our best,” said Azam after winning the toss.
Playing XI for Pakistan:
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
Playing XI for Nepal:
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
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Preview:
Nepal will be aiming to make a statement in their inaugural appearance in the Asia Cup, following their triumph in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup earlier this year.
At the same time, hosts Pakistan will be more than looking forward to clinching a victory not just for themselves, but for the home crowd as well.
The pitch at the Multan Cricket Stadium today is almost perfect for batters from both sides to showcase their scoring prowess, with very little being given to the spinners who may face difficulties.
This reads as promising news for Pakistan primarily, whose top-order is stacked with the likes of Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam who average 66.33 and 60.33 at the venue.
It also poses itself as a relishing challenge for Nepal’s star spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, who has interestingly scalped the most wickets in the world since 2021, with 88 till date.