Mohammad Rizwan And...? 3 Pakistan Players Who Will Make Their Champions Trophy Debut

Rizwan to make his Champions Trophy debut [Source: @grassrootscric/X.Com]

The Champions Trophy is back after 8 years and this time the event will be hosted in Pakistan and Dubai in a hybrid model. The host nation, Pakistan is one of the favourites for the tournament and rightly so.

They have a strong batting lineup and have the bowlers who could easily take 10-wickets to dismantle the opposition. Interestingly, the last time Pakistan played a Champions Trophy match (2017) most of the current crop of players hadn't made their international debuts.

In this piece, we will focus on three such players, who are guaranteed to play a game in Champions Trophy and will make their tournament debut.

3) Saim Ayub

The newest star of the Pakistan team, Saim Ayub has become the mainstay of the Pakistan batting lineup and is even more important than Babar Azam in the ODI setup.

He recently scored a 53-ball ODI ton Vs Zimbabwe and also racked up two hundreds in the South Africa ODI series as his importance grew in the side. The opener is currently out with an ankle injury, but is likely to recover in time for the Champipns Trophy and should make his tournament debut on February 19 Vs New Zealand.

2) Mohammad Rizwan

Mohammad Rizwan made his ODI debut in 2015, but due to his poor performance, the star player wasn't selected in the Champions Trophy squad ion 2017. However, in the last 5 years, Rizwan has become a backbone of the middle-order.

Pakistan cricket also rewarded him with the captaincy of the ODI squad and he recently won back-to-back series in Australia and South Africa, as he embarks to lead his team to glory and make his Champions Trophy debut.

1) Shaheen Afridi

Shaheen Afridi made his ODI debut a year after Pakistan won the Champions Trophy. Since then, he has become the leader of their pace attack and will be a key player for the nation as they look to win the tournament for the second time.

His new ball exploits will be crucial for Pakistan and the champion pacer will surely make his Champions Trophy debut on February 19.

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