ICC World Cup 2019 | Pakistan’s Predicted XI for the match against West Indies at Trent Bridge

05/30/2019

Pakistan and unpredictable will go hand in hand again as another World Cup comes along with Sarfraz Ahmed leading a bunch of mercurial characters. The first game will promise them more than just a contest as the batting-friendly wicket of Trent Bridge will help their current batting core.

Openers

Fakhar Zaman: Whenever a player from Mardan rises to international level, it is only apparent that he would be measured by the colossal career of Younis Khan. And Fakhar Zaman, already showed what he has got, will get a chance to live his World Cup dream after years of grind in domestic cricket. A mixed bag series against England, where he had a 138 and 52 alongside three one-digit scores, would propel him to have a cracking World Cup debut.

Imam-ul-Haq: The Pakistan opener, who is just 28-ODI-old, is in a league of his own. Ever since his debut in October 2017, only Virat Kohli, Ross Taylor, and Rohit Sharma have scored more runs than him in the ODIs and nothing can be a bigger inspiration than carrying the same momentum to the World Cup.

Middle-order

Babar Azam: Do I even need to explain? Babar Azam may have failed to establish himself as a superstar in Test cricket, however, his stock as an ODI batsman is an all-time high. The Lahore-born batsman has been in sublime form in the ODIs for a while now, averaging 52.44 this year and in the England series, he showed pragmatism and discipline while constructing a fine innings. In the loss to Afghanistan, Azam’s brilliance was on the show too and his 112 despite a slow start saved Pakistan from blushes.

Mohammad Hafeez: He is known as the Professor and there is a reason for it. Although he was Pakistan’s main opener for long, his transformation as a solid middle-order batsman, with two gears, made him a valuable commodity as Pakistan approaches their first World Cup with batting being their strong point. The wicket at Trent Bridge is unbelievably batting friendly and Hafeez would love to don the anchor role with more designated power-hitter around.

Shoaib Malik: If Haris Shoail makes way for Mohammed Hafeez, then the responsibility on Shoaib Malik will be even more for their campaign opener. Of course, he has a terrible record in England, averaging 13.6 with the bat in 23 innings, but there is a lot riding this time around. If he can serve as the launchpad Pakistan want at No. 5 then Sarfraz Ahmed can breathe easy.

Sarfraz Ahmed: The Pakistan skipper had talked about batting at No.5, but in the current situation, the only viable option would be No.6. Sarfraz had a good record at No.5, and scored 55, 105, 38, 12 and 90 across five innings in the English summer of 2016, and would want to emulate a tour like that in the most important tournament of his life.

Asif Ali: One of the founding stones of Pakistan earning the reputation of good batting unit, Asif Ali is sure to get a game in the team’s first game in Nottingham. He hits big and hits long and in his 16-match ODI career, he has a strike rate of 131.03, which means Pakistan have a good enough finisher in their ranks.

Spinners

Imad Wasim: He might not be the fittest of cricketers going around, but Imad Wasim definitely has the ability to spin a mile on the flatbeds. The left-arm orthodox spinner has rarely been wicketless for Pakistan. His ability was well on show in the warm-up games and he would be the trump card for Pakistan for sure.

Shadab Khan: After sitting out with an injury for the England series, Shadab Khan will gun for glory in the World Cup as South Africa’s prime spinner. His canny variations as a leg-spinner is going to be the most important aspect of Pakistan’s ambition to match their hopes and it couldn’t have come in a better day - against Windies, a team perennially struggling to understand spinners.

Pacers

Shaheen Afridi: The world may go gaga over what Hasan Ali can do to a batting line-up, but they just don’t know about Shaheen Afridi’s exploits. In his 14-match international career, Afridi has the intelligence to take advantage of his height to extract bounce on the docile pitches while a mean yorker has proved especially difficult for batsmen to deal with. Windies will be careful about him.

Hasan Ali: Can any forget the explosive spell against India in the Championship Trophy final two years ago? Well, that was his claim to fame, but since then, Ali has made his reputation stronger with some breathtaking display. His accuracy will help him in Nottingham tomorrow, but he has a tough job to handle.