PAK vs AUS: Babar Azam-led Pakistan will lock horns against Pat Cummins-led Australia in the 18th match of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. Pakistan ate a humiliating loss in their last outing against India and now it is time for them to hit with a strong comeback against Australia on 20 October. In this post, we discuss Pakistan’s Strongest Playing 11 against Australia and Key Players To Watch Out For PAK vs AUS.
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Australia was one of the top contenders for the title this year as per cricket enthusiasts and pundits but they had a terrible start to their World Cup 2023 campaign. Australia straight lost the first two games and were on the back foot at the very beginning of the tournament. First, they lost to India by 6 wickets on a batting surface. Then South Africa crushed them by 134 runs again on a batting surface. Cummins and co. won their last match against Sri Lanka but there were also not-so-convincing performances by the Aussies.
Pakistan were looking strong and quite stable team a week ago but the Match against India on 14 October exposed their batting depth. Weak opening strategies, an out-of-form middle order, and a vulnerable bowling line-up that fumbles if they start leaking runs. Pakistan have some issues they need to deal with. And Pakistan have shown that have that potential to turn thing around when they are under pressure.
PAK vs AUS: Pakistan’s Strongest Playing 11 Analysis
Abdullah Shafique has provided stability at the top when the second partner Imam is running out of form. He smashed an excellent century against Sri Lanka and led his team to a second win in this edition of the World Cup. Babar showed a strong character against India after a string of poor scores.
Rizwan has been the backbone of Pakistan in the middle and undoubtedly has been the best Pakistani batter to understand and adapt to the Indian condition. He is the highest run scorer for Pakistan in this campaign.
Pakistan’s top-order have to score high runs and prolong their innings if they want to win against Australia. Despite a strong start against India, they fell short there. Fakhar would have been an option to replace Imam but Zaman still remains unavailable for another week while Agha Salman is recovering from an illness.
Saud Shakeel has been impressive in the past but he looks off-color in this tournament and unfortunately, Pakistan doesn’t have that many options on the bench. Ifthikar is an explosive batsman but not a reliable one. He is not a promising finisher that Pakistan should have on a stage like the World Cup.
Shadab Khan will be there in the team working as a leg-spinning allrounder and he also provides a safe hand to the fielding. Now, Usama Mir replacing Mohammad Nawaz as Pakistan’s leg-spinner is the only change that appears plausible. Nawaz has not been too efficient, whereas Mir impressed against the Australians in Hyderabad during the warm-up game.
PAK vs AUS: Pakistan’s Playing 11
Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Hassan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
Full Pakistan Squad: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Agha Salman, Fakhar Zaman, Usama Mir, Mohammad Wasim Jr
PAK vs AUS Key Players to Watch Out
Australia will be looking for big players to stand up and take charge. Smith and Warner haven’t really stood up to their brand of cricket and they are likely to do so today. While, for Pakistan, expect a big fifty from Babar or Rizwan. Rauf can be a useful bowler in the middle.
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