HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka: Pakistan will play against Afghanistan in a three-match one-day international series in Sri Lanka from Tuesday at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota.
Pakistani skipper Babar Azam takes this as a good preparation for the Asia Cup and World Cup events scheduled after.
The two teams after finishing the series will be followed by Six Nations Asia Cup jointly hosted by Sri Lanka and Pakistan starting August 30. After the Asia Cup cricket’s biggest extravaganza, the World Cup will be held in India scheduled to start on October 5.
It is a home series for Afghanistan, which cannot host international cricket in their own country due to security concerns.
Babar Azam said that the three matches series is a good opportunity for the team to test the players in a match situation.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has the highest rating as a One Day batsman leading a strong side that also has openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq playing at number three and number four.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf form the formidable pace attack for Pakistan..
Afghanistan Rashid Khan has regained his fitness and is one the top spinners in the world.
“Afghanistan has developed into a good side,” Azam said of the team that beat Bangladesh 2-1 in the ODI series last month.
“We will not take these matches lightly,” Azam said, despite Pakistan winning all four ODIs against Afghanistan since the countries first met in 2012.
“We have a good set of players who can handle any type of bowling and it will be an exciting series.”
Hashmatullah Shahidi, leads Afghanistan team and a number of new faces are in the team with fast bowlers Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Saleem Safi and Wafadar Momand.
Tuesday’s match is played in Hambantota, the remaining two on Thursday and Saturday in Colombo.
Squads:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (capt), 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, Mohammad Haris, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ikram Alikhil, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Wafadar Momand
