First ODI: Pakistan to bat against Afghanistan

Hambantota: Pakistani cricket team won the toss and decided to bat first against Afghanistan in the first one-day match.

The first match of the three One Day International (ODI) series between Pakistan and Afghanistan is being played today in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, where Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and invited Afghanistan to bowl.

On this occasion, Captain Babar Azam said: “We will increase the pressure on Afghanistan by making a good total”.

Squads

Pakistan

Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Muhammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi and Usama Mir.

Afghanistan

Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Rehman, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmat Shah, Shahidullah, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mohammad Saleem, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, Noor Ahmad, Rahid Khan and Wafadar Momand.  

The second match between the two teams will be played on August 24 at the same venue, while the third and final match will be played on August 26 in Colombo.

A 0-3 victory in the ODI series against Afghanistan will make Pakistan the number one ODI team again.

In the ODI ranking of International Cricket Council (ICC), Pakistan has 116 points while the number one team Australia has 118 points.