Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and opted to bat against Afghanistan in their ODI World Cup 2023 match today in Chennai.

A win is mandatory for Babar Azam’s side after two successive defeats against India and Australia, as another slip up will severely hamper their ambitions to reach the semifinals.

Currently, they are in the fifth position with four points from as many matches but their net run rate of -0.456 is a worry, and it needs improvement.

Teams:

Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf.

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad.