Afghanistan vs Pakistan in Sri Lanka

AFG vs PAK, 1st ODI

Preview 

Two Asian sides AFG and PAK will face off in the 1st of the 3-match ODI series in the neutral venues at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota on Tuesday, 22 August. The series will present a great opportunity for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who are currently under pressure to improve their standings in the World Series Super League standings. Babar Azam-led PAK is currently placed in the seventh spot in International ODI Ranking, Super League series whereas Hashmatullah Shahidi-led AFG is placed in fifth position with 145 points to their name.

Therefore, AFG and PAK will be keen to deliver their best cricket to prepare adequately for this year’s Cricket World Series in India in Oct-Nov. AFG will be coming into the series relatively high on confidence after the side recently beat BAN in a three-match ODI series played in Bangladesh. For AFG, the batting department will be heavily relying on the likes of Zadran, Gurbaz, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran and all-rounder Mohammad Nabi to complete the task against Pakistan.

On the bowling front for AFG, the positives will be on the likes of pacers Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Saleem and Fazalhaq Farooqi to produce timely breakthroughs in the series. The trio of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi may prove to be the biggest threat to Pakistan's batting order.

PAK picked their full-strength squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against the Afghans. Leg-spinner Usama Mir, Tayyab Tahir and Saud Shakeel are new inclusions in the ODI for the AFG series. In the batting department, Babar Azam-led PAK will be depending on the likes of the Skipper himself, openers Imam-UL-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan to produce runs. PAK will be heavily relying on the likes of pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf to produce timely wickets against AFG.

AFG and PAK have faced each other 4-times in ODIs. PAK takes a 4-0 lead in all those matches against AFG, beating the Afghans comfortably each time.

Match Details

Match: AFG vs PAK, 1st ODI, Afghanistan vs Pakistan in Sri Lanka, 2023

Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2023

Time: 01:30 PM

Venue: Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota, Sri Lanka

Pitch Report

Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium will host the 1st ODI match of the series between AFG and PAK. The wicket prepared for the game to be played at this venue will be full of runs for batting units. AFG and PAK will be keen to win the toss, bowl first and restrict the opposition team to less than 275 runs. The majority of the ODIs played on this track have been won by the side batting first.

AFG vs PAK Squads

AFG: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Wk), Rahmat Shah, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Wafadar Momand

PAK: Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (Wk), Abdullah Shafique, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shaheen Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Haris, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Usama Mir, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf

AFG vs PAK Probable Playing XIs

AFG: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Saleem, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Fazalhaq Farooqi

PAK: Babar Azam (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf

Match Prediction

This three-match ODI series is expected to be a closely-fought contest as AFG and PAk have picked their full-strength squad to make adequate preparations for the 2023 Cricket World Series. Looking at the overall composition of AFG and PAK, Babar Azam-led PAK looks more solid on paper in comparison to AFG, which looks heavily on one or two players to deliver the bulk of the runs. We say PAK to dominate the first ODI.

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