Beginning on Tuesday, Pakistan will play Afghanistan in a three-game one-day international series in Sri Lanka. According to captain Babar Azam, this is good practice for the Asia Cup and World Cup.
The six-nation Asia Cup, which starts on August 30 in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and the World Cup, which starts on October 5, will come after the first bilateral ODI series between the two sides.
It is a home series for Afghanistan, which due to security concerns is unable to host an international cricket match there.
We can assess our players in a match environment with these three games, according to Azam, who spoke to AFP.
Azam, who is ranked first in one-day international batsmen, captains a potent team that also includes top-ranked openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq.
A strong pace attack led by Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf supports them.
World-class spinner Rashid Khan is back in the lineup for Afghanistan after withdrawing from the English competition known as The Hundred.
Azam praised the team that defeated Bangladesh 2-1 in an ODI series last month, saying, “Afghanistan have developed into a good side.”
Despite Pakistan having defeated Afghanistan in all four one-day internationals (ODIs) since the two teams’ first meeting in 2012, Azam declared, “We are not going to take these matches lightly.”
It will be a fascinating series since we have strong players who can handle spin bowling.
Hashmatullah Shahidi, a batsman, leads Afghanistan, which also features fast bowlers Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Saleem Safi, and Wafadar Momand.
The first game is being held in Hambantota on Tuesday, and the following two are being held in Colombo on Thursday and Saturday.
Squads:
With regard to Pakistan, there are the following players: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tayyab Tahir,
Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Saleem Safi, and Wafadar Momand are among the Afghan players: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ikram Alikhil, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Moham