The New Zealand tour to Pakistan is set to kick off in Gaddafi Stadium Lahore tomorrow where the last two matches of the 5-match T20I series will be held.
Pressure is mounting after the defeat in the third T20I series on Babar Azam’s men as the series is tied at 1-1 courtesy of Mark Chapman’s scintillating innings of 87 runs off 42 balls.
Speculations are still rife about the potential playing elevens of both teams but the stage is set for both sides to try and test their combinations ahead of the World Cup in June.
However, the final composition of Pakistan’s playing eleven remains a subject of intrigue, with regular wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan suffering an injury which has ruled him out of contention.
Pakistan’s main concern is the strike rate of the top-order considering that Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam did not capitalize on Saim Ayub’s quickfire knock in the last match.
Fakhar Zaman can replace Mohammad Rizwan and fill the one-down slot, a role in which the wicket-keeper batter has strug
gled recently, especially in this home-series against the Kiwis.
In the middle order, Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed are going to pick them for themselves while Pakistan can go with three seamers and three spinners with Imad Wasim making a return for Pakistan with Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi, and Abbas Afridi in the XI.
Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed is another option in the ranks who can be useful in the conditions of Lahore while Usama Mir can also be used as a trump card in home conditions.
The Men in Green will face the Kiwis at 7 pm tonight at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Here is the expected playing XI:
Babar Azam (c)
Saim Ayub
Fakhar Zaman
Usman Khan (wk)
Iftikhar Ahmed
Shadab Khan
Imad Wasim
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Mohammad Amir
Abrar Ahmed
Abbas Afridi
Source: Pro Pakistani