Pakistan are likely to make one change to their playing XI for the match against Australia tomorrow in Benglauru during the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.
The Men in Green are looking to bounce back after their demoralising defeat against India few days back in Ahmedabad.
According to local media, Pakistan are likely to include Usama Mir in the lineup in place of the struggling Shadab Khan.
Shadab has only taken two wickets in three World Cup 2023 matches, while contributing 34 runs with the bat.
Pakistan’s likely playing XI:
Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Pakistan started the World Cup with two wins before losing to India and they sit fourth in the standings.
Meanwhile, Australia lost their first two matches without crossing 200 runs but won their last game against Sri Lanka to move up to seventh in the standings.
Pakistan’s wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan opened up ahead of the important clash saying that every game is important.
“Every match of this World Cup is crucial, it’s challenging because if a team is playing in the World Cup, if you look at Afghanistan, the Netherlands or Bangladesh, all of them came here after achieving something,” Rizwan said while talking in a video released by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday.
“For us, every match is important and we are looking forward to this challenge of facing Australia.”
The 31-year-old further added that the Green Shirts need to work on their game awareness.
“Winning or losing is a part of the game, yes, we lost to India [in the World Cup], but we beat them twice before, it is not like we never won," he said.
“I think in our next games, we will have to take a look at our [game] awareness. If you look at all these things, I believe that this team is great in skills — not like we are below every team in the world — but we have to look at awareness.
“In awareness, the most important thing is fielding, we are going to figure out how we can cover the main spot when needed, that’s what I believe."
