Asia Cup opener: Pakistan wins toss, elects to bat first against Nepal

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first against Nepal in the opening match of the Asia Cup 2023 being played at Multan Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Pakistan is hosting the regional cricket event after 15 years.

This opener match between Pakistan and Nepal is also their maiden one against each other at such a big level.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam at the toss said, “We will bat first, the pitch looks very dry and shiny. No reason to name the XI earlier, we wanted to give confidence to our team. To be honest, being the top-ranked team brings a good kind of pressure, we’ll try to enjoy and do our best.”

Pakistan Squad:

Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imamul Haq, Muhammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Muhammad Rizwan (wk), Muhammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi and Usama Mir.

Nepal Squad:

Rohit Paudel (c), Aarif Sheikh, Aasif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Kushal Bhurtel, Mousom Dhakal, Gulsan Jha, Sundeep Jora, Karan KC, Kushal Malla, Sandeep Lamichhane, Kishore Mahato, Pratis GC, Lalit Rajbanshi, Arjun Saud, Bhim Sharki, Sompal Kami.