Shadab Khan leads Pakistan in warm-up match against Australia

Shadab Khan is leading Pakistan in the World Cup warm-up match against Australia being played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

Babar Azam may take the field to bat only.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Haris will keep the stumps in place of Mohammad Rizwan, who has been rested.

Australia opted to bat first after winning the toss against Pakistan.

Speaking post-toss, Australian skipper Pat Cummins said that the wicket looked great and shared his side’s batting plans after winning the toss.

“Looks like a good wicket,” said Cummins, adding, “Good chance for a couple of our batters to spend some time in the middle. Having 50 overs, bowlers can only bowl 10 overs, brings some challenges.”

Sahdab Khan said,” “Babar and Rizwan are resting but I am the captain and will make him [Babar] work hard [laughs]. We lost the last game but would want to win today, winning is a habit.”

“He is okay but Babar wanted a rest,” said Shadab.

Shadab says, “I will make Babar field and carry drinks. I am that sort of captain.”

“We play like a family because our team is young. We are like a family; everyone is a close friend of each other on this team, so when we win, we win as a team, or when we lose, we lose as a team.”

In the first warm-up match, New Zealand beat Pakistan by five wickets in Hyderabad. The winning side had chased down Pakistan’s 345 in their opener.

Meanwhile, Australia’s first warm-up match against the Netherlands was called off due to rain.

The ICC World Cup 2023 warm-up matches do not have ODI status because teams have the flexibility to include all 15 members of their squad in the Playing XI.