Pakistan Men’s National Cricket Teams are gearing up for the upcoming three match T20i series against Ireland with an experienced, well balanced and string squad at their disposal. The Men in Green are going to field a playing 11 which feature a mixture of promising youngsters and experienced campaigners, under the captaincy of Babar Azam.
Skipper Babar will be opening the innings alongside hard hitting opener Saim Ayub. Both of them opened the innings together against New Zealand as well and while they got their team off to some good starts, they weren’t able to convert those starts into big partnerships. Saim and Babar will be looking to improvise in their opening stands against Ireland. The top order will be completed by Mohammad Rizwan who will come out to bat at number three and will be donning the wicket – keeping gloves as well. His presence in the playing 11 will provide stability to the Men in Green’s batting order.
The middle order will consist of the likes of Iftikhar Ahmed, Usman Khan and Shadab Khan. All three of them provide a really solid – foundation in terms of scoring runs quickly and their ability to switch gears at will makes the Shaheens middle order really deadly and dangerous.
Imad Wasim will be playing the role of the spin bowling all rounder and his experience brings a lot of value to the Pakistani squad while one of Salman Ali Agha or Irfan Khan Niazi will be anticipated to fill the slot of the other all Rounder. They will provide additional options and depth in the bowling & batting departments.
Talking about the fast bowling unit, Shaheen Shah Afridi will lead the bowling attack and he will receive an ample amount of support by the duo of Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. The trio’s ability of picking up early wickets and restrict the run rate of the opposition in the powerplay will be crucial in Pakistan’s success against Ireland.
If Haris Rauf plays, then it will be his first competitive match since returning from injury and it remains to be seen how well he performs in the absence of Mohammad Amir.
Pakistan’s Strongest Playing 11 for the 1st T20I against Ireland:
Saim Ayub, Babar Azam (Captain), Usman Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Salman Ali Agha / Irfan Khan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.
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