Chennai (Web Desk): Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first against Afghanistan in their fifth match of ICC Men's Cricket World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Monday.
Pakistan have made one change as all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz has been ruled out of the game due to fever. He has been replaced by Shadab Khan, who was rested for Pakistan’s previous match against Australia.
It is very important for Pakistan to win this match as the Green Shirts are currently 5th in the points table and they need to win this match to regain their position in the top 4.
Similarly, it is equally important for Afghanistan to win this match as Afghanistan is at the bottom of the table with two points.
In their World Cup 2023 journey so far, Pakistan defeated the Netherlands by 81 runs in their first match and defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in their second match of the event. In their third and fourth matches, Pakistan were defeated by India and Australia by 7 wickets and 62 runs respectively.
On the other hand, in the first match of the event, Afghanistan was defeated by Bangladesh by 6 wickets, while in the second match, faced a defeat by 8 wickets from India in their second match. In the third match, Afghanistan played an amazing innings to defeat England by 69 runs, but in the very next match, the Afghan team suffered a 149-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have faced each other in 7 ODIs so far, all of which have been won by Pakistan.
The weather condition in Chennai is going to be hazy. According to the weather website, Chennai has a 1% chance of rain during the day and night. There is no chance of thundershowers in the city during the next 24 hours.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafiq, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Muhammad Rizwan (wicket keeper), Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Osama Mir, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Garbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Azmatullah Umarzai, Ikram Ali Khel (wicketkeeper), Muhammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujibur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Noor Ahmed.