Pakistan cricket team arrived at Hambantota to lock horns with Afghanistan in the three-match ODI series. Pakistan is eyeing a golden chance to become the No.1 ODI team before Asia Cup 2023. Before arriving there, Pakistan had also announced their 18-member squad for the upcoming ODI series and Asia Cup 2023.Here are the complete details and rankings updates, you need to know.
- This article will provide a complete brief on the arrival of Pakistan team in team in Hambantota and their chance to become the No.1 ODI team.
- Afterward, you will also get aware of Pakistan and Afghanistanโs three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka.
- In essence, you will be additionally notified about the ranking updates of the ODI format by ICC.
Pakistan Team Reached Hambantota:
The current 2nd ranked ODI team, Pakistan has arrived in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. On Thursday, the men-in-green with full confidence having happy smiles on their faces, landed in Hambantota, along with their ODI squad. Pakistani Shaheens were welcome beautifully by Afghanistan there in Hambantota.
Sharing a lot of smiles and joy, Afghanistani staff and players welcomed the Men-in-green in an adorable way. According to the schedule, Pakistan has to play a very competitive three-match ODI series against Afghanistan on Srilankan land. The first two ODI matches will be played in Hambantota on 22 and 24 August.
Later, the 3rd and final match of this ODI series will be played in Colombo on 26th August. Meanwhile, Babar Azam will be captaining the side and the all-rounder Shadab Khan will be the vice-captain throughout this series. The inclusion of Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Tayyab Tahir, Saud Shakeel, and Waseem Jr. is quite exciting and noticeable as well.
As far as the track record is concerned, both these sides have played 4 ODIs where Pakistan has bagged victory in all 4. The last time, the encounter between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the ODI format was in the ICC Menโs ODI World Cup 2019.
Golden Chance To Become No.1 ODI Team:
The recently updated ICC ODI Menโs Rankings have been beneficial for the Pakistan cricket team as they can eye on the top slot now. Currently, Pakistan is ranking 2nd in the ODI format as per the last update of ICC ranking on 15th August 2023. Pakistan is now present second on the list with 116 ratings and 2316 points. Australia is on the top with 118 ratings and 2714 points.
Having a golden opportunity, Pakistan can reach the No.1 spot in ODI format, if they beat Afghanistan by 3-0. If Pakistan achieves this, it will be the first time to be on No.1 in ODIs under the captaincy of Babar Azam. Meanwhile, Babar Azam is also on the top position for more than 2 years in ICC Menโs ODI batting rankings. This shows how much Pakistan has been dominant in the past few years.
Similarly, the Pakistani Shaheens will face a drop to the 3rd spot in the ODI rankings if they lose a single ODI against Afghanistan. So, Pakistan will have to play completely dominant cricket throughout the series if they want to bag the No.1 ODI spot.
Pakistan Squad For Afghanistan Series:
Adding 4-5 new names in the final 18, Pakistan has already announced their 18-member squad for the Afghanistan series. Meanwhile, this squad will remain the same for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. Additionally, Babar Azam will be once again presenting his services as a skipper of the Pakistan cricket team.
1) Babar Azam (C)
2) Imam-ul-Haq
3) Fakhar Zaman
4) Saud Shakeel (only for Afghanistan series)
5) M. Rizwan (Wk)
6) M. Haris (Wk)
7) Shadab Khan (Vc)
8) Abdullah Shafique
9) Iftikhar Ahmed
10) Faheem Ashraf
11) Salman Ali Agha
12) Tayyab Tahir
13) Naseem Shah
14) Shaheen Shah Afridi
15) Usama Mir
16) Mohammed Wasim Jr.
17) Haris Rauf
18) Mohammed Nawaz
Afghanistan Squad For This ODI Series:
Afghanistan had already announced their squad for three-match ODI series against Pakistan.
1) Hashmatullah Shahidi (c)
2) Rashid Khan
3) Riaz Hassan
4) Ibrahim Zadran
5) Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Wk)
6) Mohammed Nabi
7) Najibullah Zadran
8) Rehmat Shah
9) Ikram Ali Khil
10) Noor Ahmed
11) Mujeeb ur Rahman
12) Fazal Haq Farooqi
13) Wafadar Momand
14) Abdul Rahman
15) Mohammed Saleem Safi
16)Azmatullah Omarzai
Reserves: Farid Ahmad Malik, Shahidullah Kamal.
What To Come Next:
After the completion of the three-match ODI series with Afghanistan, Pakistan will travel back home.
Furthermore, Men-in-green will continue their practice and preparations for the Asia Cup 2023. Moreover, Asia Cup will start on 30th August in Multan where the home side will be up ahead against Nepal.
Immediately after, Pakistan will travel back to Sri Lanka to play against India in Kandy. This will be the second match of the tournament for the Pakistan team. Following is the division of teams into the two groups for Asia Cup 2023.
| Group A | Group B |
| India | Srilanka |
| Pakistan | Bangladesh |
| Nepal | Aghanistan |
Note:
The Final of Asia Cup 2023 will be played in Sri Lanka. Besides this, Pakistan will have the hosting rights of this tournament.
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