Pakistan has won the toss and chosen to field first in their fourth match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, being held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, India, on this Friday.
Both the Pakistani team, known as the Green Shirts, and their Australian counterparts are eager to secure a victory as they face off in the round-robin stage of this prestigious cricket tournament.
The squad led by Babar Azam has already won two out of three games played, whereas Pat Cummins’ Australian side has only managed one win in their three matches so far in the competition.
For today’s match, Pakistan has decided to rest Shadab Khan and has brought in Usama Mir as his replacement.
Pakistan’s skipper, Babar Azam, described the Chinnaswamy stadium pitch as “good” and revealed his team’s strategy to focus on taking early wickets to put pressure on Australia. He expressed confidence in his team, emphasizing the importance of improved batting performance, especially after their less than stellar showing against arch-rivals India.
On the other hand, Australian captain Pat Cummins mentioned that his team would have also opted to bowl first if they had won the toss, but they are content with batting. He praised the pitch, describing it as “really good,” and drew inspiration from their energetic performance in their previous win against Sri Lanka, hoping for a similar display against Pakistan.
Cummins added, “Same side, everyone’s good to go.”
Playing XI:
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Australia: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
