Pakistan has been a formidable side when they do play in World Cups. In this article, we will discuss what the probable squad would look like as things get closer and the time arrives for the competition. Pakistan has a very-good ODI side. They are ranked no 02 in the Men’s ODI Rankings. So there are very high chances Pakistan can make history by coming out victorious.
Openers:
First, we would discuss what openers Pakistan would select to represent them in the world cup. There will be no chances in the opening pair as Imam Ul Haq is ranked 4th in the ODI Rankings whereas his counterpart Fakhar Zaman is Ranked 3rd in the ODI rankings.
There has been a debate about what other players should get selected for the squad. The players that are in contention to grab the place are Shan Masood & Abdullah Shafique. The selectors should look at the recent performance of Shan as he has been very dismal with his performance and hasn’t managed to score well. In 09 Matches he has only managed to score 163 runs only. Abdullah has not played many ODI matches and is relatively new to his performance in red-ball cricket. Recently, he scored 201 against Srilanka at Sinhalese sports club Colombo.
Middle Order:
Number 3 for Pakistan is the captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team Babar Azam is playing at that position and is no doubt currently the world’s best batsman across all the formats with consistent run-scoring ability that he possesses. He is ranked no 1 in the ODI rankings for men.
For Number 4 there will be lots of debate as Muhammad Rizwan was playing at number 4 for years but now he is being played at no 5. While having a press conference Rizwan stated he would love to play at number 4 as it suits him the most. Then coming at number 5 Iftikhar Ahmad is likely to get selected as his performance has been brilliant and in red hot form and provides the stability that Pakistan requires in the middle order. Haris Sohail is also in contention to take a place in the probable squad if he gets fit in time.
Pakistan’s players celebrate the dismissal of New Zealand’s Ish Sodhi (not pictured) during the fifth and final one-day international (ODI) cricket match between Pakistan and New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi on May 7, 2023
Late Middle Order:
Now coming to number 6 Pakistan would be playing Agha Salman as since his debut for Pakistan, he has been tremendous in both ODI and T20 internationals. The aggressive style of Agha Salman can help for acceleration in the middle order. Coming at no 7 will be Shadab Khan as he is a very capable batsman and can provide the emphatic required to build the innings. In the probable squad, there will be the likes of Muhammad Haris Sarfaraz Ahmad also in contention to feature in the squad there would be very much options to build the squad.
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Bowlers:
Now looking towards the bowling line up the players we could see featuring in the probable squad. With fast bowlers like Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf performing well there won’t be many changes coming as the world cup is being held in Asia. There will be two spin bowlers playing so I think Usama Mir will also get in as when he is given chances he grabbed it with both hands and performed very well. Pacers like Muhammad Waseem jr Shah Nawaz Dahani & Muhammad Hasnain would be looking for a place.
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