Pakistan To Face England In T20I Series Opener Today

ISLAMABAD: Before the exciting ICC T20I World Cup 2024, Pakistan Men’s cricket team is all set to take on England in the first of the four-match T20I series at Headingley (Leeds) today (Wednesday).

After playing four T20I matches both would depart for the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA.

Being the finalist of the last ICC T20 World Cup 2022, the T20I series would be a huge significance for both teams. In the last T20I final played at the MCG England outclassed Pakistan by five wickets in the sizzling encounter where Sam Curran played a crucial part and remained player of the final for his figures of three for 12.

Pakistan’s Strength

Pakistan’s side would try its best to play tremendous cricket and set the stage for the upcoming mega ICC event. Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Shah Afridi and the skipper Babar Azam are in good form after the side beat Ireland by 2-1 in a recent T20 series. Meanwhile, Babar Azam (3955) is just a few runs short of Virat Kohli (4037) and Rohit Sharma (3974) to become the leading run-scorer in T20 which is expected he would surpass in the series against England. In addition, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf are also back to the squad.

Talking to the media the other day, Babar Azam who is also the most successful captain in T20Is with 46 wins said that he was confident that Pakistan would continue the winning momentum against England, from the Ireland series.

Azam further said the team had productive training sessions at Headingley and with head coach Gary Kirsten linking up with the squad adding that they were focused on fine-tuning their strategies and combinations for the four T20Is against England and the upcoming ICCT20 World Cup.

England Strength

While comparing both sides’ previous record in the T20I rivalry, England dominated Pakistan with 19 wins against nine with one game ending as a no-result. England also remained the winners of the previous bilateral series against Pakistan and is the defending champion of the ICC T20 World Cup while beating Pakistan.

England 15 Member Squad

England: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley and Mark Wood

Pakistan Squad:

Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Usman Khan