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Pakistan, the former world champions from 1992, who have been in a frequent back and forth with BCCI and ICC regarding their participation in the upcoming edition of the tournament, are expected to come to India to play the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. They are led by a charismatic figure in Babar Azam, the number one batter in one-day cricket currently.
During the 10-team ICC ODI World Cup 2019, Pakistan managed to finish in fifth place in the group stage, narrowly missing out on the semi-final due to an inferior NRR. But, since then, they have improved their cricket in the 50-over format drastically, winning 19 and losing only eight matches in the process.
In the current ICC ODI Team Rankings, Pakistan are placed in fourth position, which shows how well they can perform as a team in the upcoming edition of the biggest one-day tournament in the world, in comparison to four years ago. With that in mind, SportsTiger looks at the probable squad for Pakistan in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023:
Batters: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (c), Haris Sohail, Khushdil Shah
Pakistan’s batting lineup in ODI cricket has been scoring big runs consistently in recent times, in the build-up to the World Cup. The captain Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, and Imam-ul-Haq have been a settled top three for Pakistan in this format due to their consistent performances with the bat, which had led them to reach the top 10 of the ODI batting rankings together at once.
Shan Masood and Haris Sohail bring more experience to the table for Pakistan in the 50-over format. Also, Khushdil Shah and Abdullah Shafique will be looking to impress the selectors in the remaining matches in the format, to make the final squad in India for the quadrennial event.
