Pakistan bats first against Nepal on ‘dry and bright’ Multan pitch

Shake Pakistan chose to bat vs Nepal

Babar Azam won the toss in the opening match of the 2023 Asian Cup and opted to bat first in what he called a “dry and bright” Multan pitch that looked full of runs.

Nepal makes its Asian Cup debut and captain Rohit Paudel said it was “a great achievement” for the team. They got this far by winning the ten-team ACC Premier Cup in April-May, clinching the title ahead of teams like the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, who have played in the Asia Cup before.

This is also the first time that Nepal has faced Pakistan in any format in international cricket.

Pakistan had announced its XI on the same Tuesday; Babar said that they were confident and did not hesitate to do so. They chose three fast bowlers, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, and two spin bowlers all-rounders, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz, with Agha Salman also able to contribute his spin-off.

Pakistan hasn’t played much over-50 cricket in the last cycle, but they recently blanked Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka.

Pakistan: 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam (captivity), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (week), 5 Agha Salman, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Naseem Shah , 11 Haris Rauf

Nepal: 1 Kushal Bhurtel, 2 Aasif Sheikh (week), 3 Rohit Paudel (captain), 4 Aarif Sheikh, 5 Kushal Malla, 6 Dipendra Singh Airee, 7 Gulsan Jha, 8 Sompal Kami, 9 Karan KC, 10 Sandeep Lamichhane, 11 Lalit Rajbanshi