Shadab Khan & Hasan Ali In, Usama Mir Dropped? Here's Pakistan's Playing XI vs New Zealand
Shadab Khan had a great outing with the bat vs SA [AP]
In a high-voltage face-off, Pakistan will cross swords against New Zealand in the 35th group-stage match of the ongoing World Cup in Bengaluru on Saturday. This match is significantly important from both teams' perspective, as they would be desperate to secure a win and get one step closer to the semifinal.
Talking about Pakistan, the Men in Green finally ended a disastrous four-match losing streak, crushing Bangladesh by seven wickets in their seventh league-stage game. While Fakhar Zaman silenced his critics with a blistering half century, Abdullah Shafique regained his mojo after a few poor outings.
Besides Babar Azam's poor batting form, the spin department has emerged as a massive headache for Pakistan. While Mohammad Nawaz was extremely ineffective with the ball, Usama Mir looked miserable in the previous game, scalping a single wicket for 66 runs in his ten-over spell.
But considering his exploits against South Africa, Pakistan will likely continue with Mir as their premier spinner in the all-important face-off, keeping Mohammad Nawaz in the sideline.
However, given Shadab's batting heroics and better all-round ability, Pakistan might include him in place of Agha Salman, who took the field as his replacement in Kolkata.
Shadab has reportedly recovered from the concussion injury, and his inclusion will offer Pakistan a better spinner and an able finisher down the order on Bengaluru's batting-friendly deck.
Meanwhile, although Hasan Ali is fit, he won't likely play in this game, as Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr and Haris Rauf bowled exceedingly well in the previous match.
Pakistan's Probable Playing XI vs New Zealand
Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf
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