Pakistan’s chief selector, Inzamam-ul-Haq, will announce Pakistan’s Asia Cup squad today. The cricket board will hold a ceremony and announce the Pakistani team for the tournament. Foreign coaches will land in Pakistan later this week, while most players are playing in LPL 2023.
Related: Pakistan Squad for Asia Cup 2023 [Announced]
The chief selector will make this announcement to ensure Pakistan’s ODI side has enough clarity to prepare and perform during their series against Afghanistan this month.
Read: Asia Cup 2023 Schedule PDF
Asia Cup will start on 30 August. The match opener will be between Pakistan and Nepal at Multan Cricket Stadium. And Pakistan is getting ready to face off against India and Nepal in the group stages. Let’s see how their preparations are going.
Check: ICC World Cup Schedule 2023 PDF Download |Men’s one Day World Cup
Inzi Announces Squad Ahead of Asia Cup
Reports say Inzamam-ul-Haq (Inzi) will announce the world cup squad today at around 1 pm PST. His intentions seem clear; he wants to announce the squad before the Afghanistan series and give the selected players ample opportunity to settle on the Sri Lankan pitches.
Read: Asia Cup 2023 Afghanistan Squad [Announced]
Afghanistan has only won 1 t20 match against Pakistan. But they are a force to be reckoned with after the addition of Rashid Khan. Rashid is one of the best T20 bowlers in the world. Facing him in spin-friendly conditions of Sri Lanka will help Pakistani players prepare for the Asia and World Cup.
Team gathering for series against Afghanistan
Another controversy sparked the interest of the Public as the chairman Zaka Ashraf said he would change the coaching staff. But Pakistan had won their series against Sri Lanka. Such a decision would have hurt the public sentiment, and PCB would face a backlash.
Common sense prevailed, and Zaka Ashraf stated that he had no plans of changing the team management before the major events. The foreign coaches will arrive on Friday.
Players like Babar, Imam, Nawaz, Fakhar, Iftikhar, and Naseem will join the team in Sri Lanka. They are already playing Lanka Premier League and entertaining the masses with the best performance.
Shaheen, Usama, Shadab, and Haris will join the team on 18 August. They are playing in the T20 league in England. Bowling coach Morne Morkel is likely to join the team similarly.
Pakistan vs. India match
Pakistan vs. India match is going to be a banger. Both countries are facing political turmoil, but the committee formed by PM Shahbaz Shareef has given the green signal to the Pakistan Cricket team to play the world cup in India. “Politics and sports must be kept separate,” the committee said.
Hence, we may be able to see Pakistan vs. India clash more than 3 times at least. The coming months are going to be entertaining.
Parting thoughts
All eyes are on Inzi bhai as he will announce the squad for Asia Cup. Pakistan team fans want the team to win. How Pakistan was stripped of its hosting rights has hurt many people. There is a huge responsibility on the team to prove that Pakistan is second to none.