Faheem Ashraf has retained his spot as Pakistan announced playing XI for the second Super 4 stage match against arch-rival India.
Like the set practice, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shared the playing XI on social media site ‘X’ a day before the match against India.
The match will be played at R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo on September 10 (Sunday) afternoon.
Our playing XI for the #PAKvIND match 🇵🇰#AsiaCup2023 pic.twitter.com/K25PXbLnYe
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) September 9, 2023
In the rain-abandoned match against India in Kandy, both Muhammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan failed to make any impact with the ball.
In that match, Pakistan missed the services of the fourth fast bowler which provided India an opportunity to recover from a disastrous situation during middle overs.
Revising the original plan, Pakistan inducted Faheem Ashraf in place of Muhammad Nawaz to boost the fast bowling in the first Super 4 match against Bangladesh.
Pakistan has decided to go with the same plan to keep the option of having the services of a fast-bowling all-rounder during middle overs.
Faheem Ashraf will support the settled fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf besides providing the luxury of the presence of a solid left-handed batsman at the number 8 slot.
Salman Ali Agha and Iftikhar Ahmed are the spin bowling options alongside Shadab Khan.
Pakistan playing XI against India:
Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (C), Muhammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan (VC), Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
Asia Cup 2023: Pakistan has an edge over India in Super 4 match