ICC World Cup 2019 | Pakistan’s predicted XI for the game against Sri Lanka
After a surprisingly convincing win against the hosts and tournament favourites England, Pakistan will go into the game with a renewed confidence. They are unlikely to make many changes to the team that won against England in their second game after a humiliating defeat against the Windies.
Openers
Imam-ul-Haq
After having scored a century on his ODI debut against the same opponents two years ago, Imam-ul-Haq has got off to a sensational start in international colours and already has six centuries to his name in 30 innings at an average of 57. In the last game, he narrowly missed out on a half-century after a confident innings and will look to add on to it in the next game against Sri Lanka.
Fakhar Zaman
Yet another star turn in the impressive batting lineup, the 29 year old has so far maintained an average of 50 over 38 ODI innings and has the ability to hit the ball long distances too to pace the innings. In both the matches in the tournament, he has got off to a good start but failed to capitalize on them, something he will try to avoid against the continental rivals tomorrow.
Middle-order
Babar Azam
He is quite simply Pakistan’s stand out batsman. Easy on the eye with sublime technique and a knack of scoring big, the 24-year-old is extremely consistent. It is fair to say that the entire batting lineup relies on him more often than not to come up with the goods, and seeing his record so far with nine centuries at an average of 50+, he rarely disappoints them. His brilliant half-century in the last game is a sign of big things to come from his end on cricket’s biggest platform.
Sarfaraz Ahmed (WK, Captain)
The wicketkeeper has a lot of experience under his belt having featured in more than a 100 ODIs. His quickfire half-century in the match against the hosts helped his team take control of the match during the middle overs, a role he has become highly efficient at of late and will be aiming to repeat in the next game too while rallying his troops from the front.
Asif Ali
Though he has not had as remarkable an introduction to international cricket as some of his teammates, he is a fine 50-over batsman nonetheless. Battling from personal issues after his daughter died an unfortunate death from cancer less than a month ago, a good performance will provide some relief from the emotional trauma he is going through.
All-rounders
Mohammad Hafeez
One of the team’s most experienced players, he put an absolute show in the last game as his 84 runs off 62 balls helped his team cruise to a total of 348. He has a gift of timing and can hit the ball a long distance as well, factors that have contributed to his 6,000+ runs in ODIs. He can put in a decent shift with his sly off-breaks too and has 138 wickets to his name. Without a doubt, he will be one of the first names on the team sheet.
Shoaib Malik
Playing in his last World Cup 20 years after his ODI debut, the former captain is like a leader and the team will be looking at the veteran for inspiration in high pressure and tricky situations. He put in a good cameo with the ball in the last game to contain the Englishmen and will be hoping to finally achieve World Cup glory with his nation.
Shadab Khan
A relatively new player in the squad much like the two openers, the crafty leg spin bowler has made quite an impression both with the bat and the ball. Able to finish games with his power hitting, he already has 49 wickets to his name in the format and put up a good display against England picking up the early wicket of Jason Roy before getting the better of centurion Joe Root to turn the tide in his team’s favour. He will have a crucial role to play considering Sri Lanka’s middle order struggles.
Bowlers
Hasan Ali
Though he has started the tournament on the wrong foot and is yet to get a wicket to his name, the right arm fast medium bowler has an impressive 80 wickets from 51 ODIs and has the ability to move the ball as well as trouble the batsmen with bounce and pace. Given the way Sri Lanka have batted so far in the tournament, a good spell from early on could pave the way for a rampage by the Pakistan team.
Wahab Riaz
One of the world’s fastest bowlers having reached speeds of 155 kmph in the past, the lethal pacer’s aggression is enough to scare of some of the best batsmen in the world. Having etched his name into the memory of every fan after his career-defining spell against Shane Watson in the previous edition, he has been on song after receiving an unexpected call-up and his three wickets took Pakistan across the line against England. He will be looking to put in another fiery display to rattle the Sri Lankan batsmen.
Mohammad Amir
The 27-year-old has the potential to become the best swing bowler in the world, and his performances speak for him. Having picked up a couple of crucial wickets against England, the fast bowler will be running high on confidence and will look to keep hitting the high speeds of 150 km/h in an attempt to get wickets and put the match-fixing fiasco behind him with a strong impact in the World Cup.
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