The Asia Cup Super Four match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka today has become the semi-final, Pakistan has announced the final eleven for the very important match against Sri Lanka.
In order to compete against arch-rivals India in the Asia Cup final, Pakistan must win against Sri Lanka, otherwise the Pakistani team will be eliminated from the event.
If today’s match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka is rained out, then both the teams will get one point each and Sri Lanka will qualify for the final due to better run rate.
The Pakistani team had faced the worst defeat by India in the last match, but they defeated Bangladesh in the first match of the Super Four.
It should be remembered that India qualified for the final by defeating Sri Lanka by 41 runs in the Super Four stage match.
India’s win has eased the calculation for Pakistan and now all they have to do is win the match against Sri Lanka without worrying about the run rate.
A total of 5 changes have been made in the team. Naseem Shah, who suffered an injury in the match against India, has been ruled out of the Asia Cup and Zaman Khan has been included in the squad in his place, who will also play against Sri Lanka. Will be seen in action.
After Pakistan’s worst defeat in the match against India and injuries to two fast bowlers, major changes were decided. A few changes were forced for the match due to injuries to the players, while one change was made in view of a possible spin wicket.
Apart from Zaman Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr. has also been included in the final XI, who will replace Haris Rauf. Apart from this, Salman Ali Agha, who was injured due to a ball hitting his face in the match against traditional rival, will also not be able to participate in the match and Saud Shakeel will be seen in action in his place.
In view of possible spin wicket in the match against Sri Lanka, Mohammad Nawaz has been included in the team instead of Faheem Ashraf. Opener Fakhrzaman, who has been performing poorly in the last few matches, has been left out due to being out of form and young batsman Mohammad Haris has been made a part of the team in his place. The Pakistani team for the match consists of these players.
Babar Azam (captain), Muhammad Haris, Imamul Haq, Muhammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Wasim Jr., Zaman Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Pakistan had earlier included fast bowler Zaman Khan in the 17-member squad for the Asia Cup in place of Naseem Shah, who was suffering from injury problems.
The PCB statement said that Zaman Khan joined the team this morning and will train with the team at the Colombo Stadium this evening.
After joining the squad, Zaman Khan will now be seen in action in tomorrow’s match against Sri Lanka.
It should be noted that Naseem Shah suffered a shoulder injury in the Super Four round match against India in the Asia Cup and did not even come to bat in the match.
The medical panel of the national team is constantly monitoring him and all precautionary measures are being taken ahead of the World Cup.
Keeping these precautions in mind, it has been decided to rest Naseem Shah for the remaining matches of the Asia Cup and Zaman Khan has been included in the squad in his place.
On the other hand, Haris Rauf, who did not bowl carefully in the Reserve Day match against India, is now feeling better and is on the way to improvement.
In this regard, Pakistan cricket team’s bowling coach Morne Morkel said that Haris Roof has a muscle problem and the World Cup is near, so we are giving him rest and not taking any risk.
According to team Dr. Sohail Saleem, these two fast bowlers are our assets and the team’s medical panel will take care of them in every possible way before the World Cup.
It should be noted that Haris Rauf, the fast bowler of the national cricket team, got injured during the important match of the Asia Cup Super Four stage against India due to injury, while both Naseem and Haris bowlers completed their quota of 10 overs. He was unable to do so and did not even return to the field to bat.
In this match, India defeated Pakistan by a record margin of 228 runs.
It should be noted that in the Asia Cup, the Pakistan team now needs a victory in today’s match against Sri Lanka to reach the finals.
The winner of today’s match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will face India in the final of the Asia Cup.
