• Home
  • Match Hub
  • Naseem Benched Babar Starts As Pakistan Opt To Field First Vs Zimbabwe In 1st Tri Series T20i

Naseem benched, Babar starts as Pakistan opt to field first vs Zimbabwe in 1st tri-series T20I

Abhinav Tyagi

Pakistan vs Zimbabwe toss -(Source: Ashir Asif/X.com)Pakistan vs Zimbabwe toss -(Source: Ashir Asif/X.com)

After Pakistan, thumping series win over Sri Lanka in the ODI series, the caravan has now moved onto the T20Is and Zimbabwe too have toured the sub-continent to take part in the tri-series featuring Pakistan and the Island Nation. For the first match, the hosts locked horns against Zimbabwe at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

During the coin flip, the Salman Ali Agha-led side won the toss and opted to field first in the curtain-raiser match. Talking about the playing XI, then for Pakistan, Usman Tariq, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Wasim Jr are not playing today.

Further, for Zimbabwe, they haven't much experimented with their usual playing XI. 

Pakistan vs Zimbabwe Playing XIs

Zimbabwe Playing XI : Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Sikandar Raza (c), Brad Evans, Brendan Taylor (wk), Tadiwanashe Marumani, Tashinga Musekiwa, Tony Munyonga, Graeme Cremer, Tinotenda Maposa, Richard Ngarava

Pakistan Playing XI : Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Salman Ali Agha (c), Usman Khan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed

Pakistan vs Zimbabwe captains thought

Salman Ali Agha (Pakistan Captain): "We want to bowl first; the wicket is a little slow. It does not seem like a typical Pindi track. I don't think there will be any dew. We are playing well, the last few series we have won, and we look forward to keeping the momentum going. Tariq, Naseem, and Wasim are not playing today."

Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe Captain): "Suddenly, it's a blessing in disguise to be a part of this series. We are looking forward to it, we are here to do well. As much as we have one eye on the World Cup, we must not lose sight of today's match. I think Rawalpindi is not the usual one; it's started to get slower. A lot of Test matches have been played here recently. Hence, it has started to get slower. Dew is not something you can control. Hopefully, there isn't much dew tonight. Batting first or batting second, it's fine for us."