Pakistan cruised to a seven-wicket victory over defending champions West Indies in the first warm-up. Pakistan captain Babar Azam shined with a half-century to send a warning to Virat Kohli’s India. Fakhar Zaman, who smashed a century against India in the ICC Champions Trophy Final, scored 46.
West Indies captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and opted to bat first but they struggled. With Hasan Ali returning with two wickets for only 21 runs in his four overs, his spell restricted West Indies to a mediocre score. Apart from him, Haris Rauf gave away 32 runs from his 4 overs in return for wickets of Keiron Pollard and Chris Gayle while Shaheen Afridi scalped 2 wickets as Pakistan restricted Kieron Pollard & Co to 130/7 in 20 overs.
While Mohammad Rizwan struggled with 13 off 17, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman added 58 runs for the second wicket to take the match away. Hayden Walsh’s 2/41 had no impact as Pakistan registered a 7-wicket victory with Shoaib Malik remaining not out on 14 off 11. Pakistan will next face South Africa on October 20.
Pictures from the Pakistan team’s training session, was shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). PCB has appointed some of the top names of world cricket to assist the team in their World Cup campaign with Matthew Hayden joining the team on Sunday in Dubai.
- Saqlain Mushtaw – Interim Head Coach
- Matthew Hayden – Mentor & Batting Coach
- Vernon Philander – Bowling Coach
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 17, 2021
Though Pakistan team has never beaten India in the ICC tournament, Babar Azam had earlier declared that Pakistan will have an advantage against India this time. when they face-off Virat Kohli & Co in their opening league match of ICC T20 World Cup.
“Our morale is high and we want to make a positive start to the tournament by winning the opening game against India. Gaining momentum at the start of the tournament will help in improving the confidence of the team,” he said.
- Pakistan is yet to beat India in any World Cup fixture.
- India leads Pakistan 6-1 in 8 T20 matches, including a tie.
- The record shows Pakistan will have an uphill task against Virat Kohli & Co. in the upcoming contest.
- The two neighbours had last met each other in the 2019 World Cup in Manchester on October 29.
Pakistan T20 World Cup Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shoaib Malik.
India’s squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, R.Ashwin, Rahul Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami
