Pakistan and Afghanistan, two new rivals will meet in the 22nd match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on 23rd October 2023. Pakistan are at the 5th spot in the Points Table while Afghanistan lags behind at No.10. Following is the Pakistan vs Afghanistan Match Preview of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan Today Match Preview
Pakistan are coming into this game after suffering back to back defeats against India and Australia and their confidence is on the lower side right now. Afghanistan have also suffered a humongous defeat by 149 runs against New Zealand.
Both sides need this win desperately to stay in the race of semi-finals. Both sides have had a little gap and will be playing this game with full hopes to win. Afghanistan’s batting lacks depth, while Pakistan’s spin attack needs to step up.
The track of Chennai supports the spinners. The track and outfield is usually on the slower side but if dew comes into play, then things get easier for the team batting second, hence toss will be very crucial here.
Afghanistan clearly have better performing spinners in this tournament while Pakistan lacks it. Meanwhile Pakistan have a consistently performing middle order and a better pace attack than Afghanistan. Moreover, this is a new rivalry in building that gives a lot of thrill to the fans. Afghanistan players play with a different energy against Pakistan and vice versa. Hence this game can go down the wire.
Afghanistan vs Pakistan 3rd ODI 2023 Playing XI
Pakistan Expected Playing XI
Pakistan are unlikely to make a change. If they think something out of the box, they can bring in Shadab Khan and rest one pacer or Shadab can come in for Nawaz as well.
Probable Lineup: 1 Abdullah Shafique 2 Imam-ul-Haq 3 Babar Azam (C) 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk) 5 Saud Shakeel 6 Shadab Khan 7 Iftikhar Ahmed 8 Usama Mir 8 9 Hasan Ali 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi 11 Haris Rauf/Mohammad Nawaz
Afghanistan Expected Playing XI
Afghanistan will probably remain unchanged.
Probable Lineup: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz 2 Ibrahim Zadran 3 Rahmat Shah 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (C) 5 Azmatullah Omarzai 6 Ikram Alikhil (wk) 7 Mohammad Nabi 8 Rashid Khan 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman 10 Naveen-ul-Haq 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi
Pakistan vs Afghanistan Head to Head Record
In World Cup history, these two sides have met only once with Pakistan managing to escape with the win narrowly (2019). Overall in ODI cricket’s history, both sides have met 7 times and on all 7 occasions Pakistan have ended up winning.
Players to Watch-Out For
For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan will remain someone to watch-out for. He is the third highest run getter of World Cup 2023 and has scored in almost every game. One more batter except Rizwan will be Saud Shakeel. Saud plays spin really well and Pakistan would need him to play well in Chennai.
With the ball, Iftikhar Ahmed and Usama Mir will be the key threats. Usama did not have a successful world cup debut, but he was turning the ball in Bengaluru as well. Iftikhar was good with his economy in the previous game. So these 2 bowlers must do well in supporting conditions.
For Afghans, their biggest strength is the spin trio of Rashid-Mujeeb-Nabi. These 3 spinners on a turning track can wreak havoc for Pakistan. So Pakistan must be watchful for them. Moreover, Rahmanullah Gurbaz will also be a major threat for Pakistan. If Gurbaz starts well, then Pakistani bowlers would be under the pump.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan Toss Prediction
Toss is likely to go Pakistan’s way and they will opt to bowl first because of dew later on.
Afghanistan vs Pakistan Win Prediction
Pakistan will begin this game as favorites with 60 percent chance of winning.
