Babar Azam in a press conference© AFP
The cricketing buzz all across the globe is mostly centered around the India vs Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup, with the two giants all set to square-off on September 02. Pakistan and India aren’t just the two favourites to go through from their group but also touted as the two sides who could face each other in the final of the continental event. Speaking of the Indo-Pak clash on Saturday, former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq feels the team needs to persist with its team, even if it loses the match against India.
Calling Pakistan’s line-up one of the most balanced in the Asia Cup, Razzaq feels skipper Babar Azam and the team management need to back the players fully even if the India match produces an unfavourable result.
“See, the current Pakistan XI is well-balanced. You have proper batters and all-rounders in middle-order. You have full strength in pace and spin attack. You have everything. You should have the same team, this is the best combination. Even if we lose the match against India, you shouldn’t be changing the current team. This is the best team we have,” Razzaq said on GEO Super.
Pakistan have already won one of their matches in the Asia Cup, defeating debutants Nepal in the opener. In the match, while skipper Babar Azam scored 151 runs, middle-order batter Iftikhar Ahmed also registered a century. Wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan produced a fine cameo of 44 runs off 50 balls.
With the ball, Shadab Khan was the superstar for Pakistan, bagging 4 wickets for just 27 runs in 6.4 overs. Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi claimed two wickets each against Nepal.
After setting a target of 343 runs for Nepal to chase, Pakistan managed to bowl them out for just 104 runs, hence securing a monumental 238-run win.
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