In their final league-stage game of the ongoing World Cup, Pakistan is set to face England at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday. Despite a mix of performances, Pakistan currently holds the fifth position in the standings with four wins in eight matches. Fakhar Zaman’s impressive innings in the last game provided a glimpse of hope, but their chances for a semifinal spot suffered a setback as New Zealand convincingly defeated Sri Lanka.
Now, in the upcoming match against England, Pakistan faces a daunting task – they need to either defeat England by 287 runs or successfully chase a 300-run target within six overs to secure a spot in the semifinals. Realistically, their World Cup campaign is on the verge of conclusion; however, they aim to end it on a positive note by overcoming England, who have struggled to showcase their usual form in the tournament. Let us now look at the playing XI for the Pakistan team for their final game of this edition of World Cup 2023;
Top Order
The number one and two i.e. the openers for the Pakistan team will be Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique. The match is crucial not only for Pakistan but also for Fakhar Zaman who has been in prime form with the bat. In the last two matches in which the Pakistan team have played, Fakhar has been the player of the match. While his partner, Abdullah had looked good in the tournament but has failed to convert the starts that he has got. The number three position will be taken by skipper Babar Azam. The Pakistan team will be certainly banking on their skipper to help them register a total of 400 plus so that they can be in with a chance. Babar has not had the World Cup by his standard as he has few half-centuries to his name.
Middle Order and All-rounders
The number four position will be taken by wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan who also only had a couple of innings where he batted which is expected from him. The number five position will be taken by my Saud Shakeel who is apt enough to play according to the situation but has not converted the expectation from him into the scores. The number six position will be taken by Iftikhar Ahmed who is more like a finisher and has certainly delivered whenever the team has needed from him. In fact, Iftikhar has been useful with the ball in hand also. The number seven position will be taken in by Mohammad Nawaz who has been very disappointing both with the bat as well as bowl in hand.
Bowlers
The number eight will be taken in by Shaheen Shah Afridi who has been in brilliant form in the World Cup 2023 but has struggled to take wickets with a new ball. The numbers 9, 10, and 11 will be Mohammad Wasim Jr along with Usama Mir and Haris Rauf.