PAK vs NZ: With very little hope alive, Pakistan will prepare themselves for a “Do-or-Die” contest against one of the best sides in the World Cup 2023-New Zealand. Babar Azam and Co. need to answer a lot of questions from critics and they will be keen to shut all of those with a big win against New Zealand. In this post, we predict Pakistan’s Strongest Playing 11 Against New Zealand And Key Players To Watch Out For PAK vs NZ ODI World Cup 2023.
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There are a lot of calculations in a South Asian country for their qualification scenarios, however, all of these are just hopeful attempts to just console themselves. Pakistan are practically out of the race of the semis and one more loss from here will ensure their official elimination. But Babar Azam would be quite optimistic at this stage and he should be. The team will be trying to give it their all and uplift their position in the ICC World Cup Points Table.
Pakistan will take on New Zealand on 4 November at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, and the contest will start at 02:00 PM IST. New Zealand are 4th in the ICC World Cup 2023 Points Table with 4 wins in 7 matches. One loss at this stage of the tournament will put them into some pressure situations in the upcoming contests, so this match is a must-win game for them as well.
PAK vs NZ: Pakistan’s Strongest Playing 11 Analysis
Pakistan were exceptionally outstanding in their last match against Bangladesh where they won the match by 7 wickets. It was a near-perfect team game and a satisfactory contribution from the team. Not too many mistakes on the on-field captaincy and a well-balanced playing 11 led them to end their losing streak and win the third game of the tournament.
Pakistan’s approach in the last match was totally different from what combination they were playing till then. They have always prioritized allrounder spinners in their squad even if they haven’t contributed much but they learned from their mistakes and played a new and fresh playing 11 after undergoing as many as three big changes.
Shaheen Afridi is back in form and he was as good as he always has been. Haris Rauf is playing his new ‘powerplay bowler’ role brilliantly and Mohammad Wasin JR was good once the ball got old. This trio shared 8 wickets between them against Bangladesh which are good signs for Pakistan.
Pakistan entered the game with just 4 specialist bowlers and put a lot of faith in Ifthikar Ahmed. Ifthikar, however, stood up to the expectation and bowled 10 overs with one wicket of Litton Das. Usama Mir was a bit expensive though. Where all the other bowlers ate under 50 runs, he was the only one to go 66 in his 10 overs.
Impressive 81 on his comeback to the team, Fakhar Zaman stood out to be the best replacement. Shafique was good as well at the top. Poor show of Babar continued but he is the best batsman from Pakistan and the Number 1 ODI batsman in ICC ODI Players Ranking so a big innings is just around the corner.
We don’t see any changes in Pakistan’s playing 11 from the last match but one. Babar might think to fit Shadab Khan in the squad if is fit to go. And Hasan Ali might be back in the side if he is fit to play.
PAK vs NZ: Pakistan’s Playing 11
Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Usama Mir/Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr/Hasan Ali, 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 NZ: Key Players to Watch Out
Pakistan will be yet again looking for big players to stand up and take charge. Babar hasn’t really stood up to his brand of cricket and a big inning from him is due so he is likely to do so tomorrow. Fakhar Zaman and Babar will be in everyone’s eyes with hopes.
Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell have been the backbone of the New Zealand batting. Matt Henry is ruled out and now Boult will have more responsibilities on his shoulders.
Shaheen Afridi vs Rachin Ravindra will be the most exciting battle to watch out for in the PAK vs NZ game.
READ: Two key battles to watch out for in India vs South Africa
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