PAK vs BAN Asia Cup 2023 Super Four, Toss Report: Bangladesh Opt to Bat, Pakistan Make One Bowling Change – News18

The Super Fours of the Asia Cup 2023 begin on Wednesday with Group A table toppers, Pakistan, locking horns with the second-placed team of Group B, Bangladesh, at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. It’s the last encounter of the continental event in Pakistan before moving to Colombo where the rest of the games will be played.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat first against the hosts. The Bangla Tigers have made a forced change to their playing XI; Najmul Hossain Shanto, who was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury, has been replaced by Liton Das.

PAK vs BAN Asia Cup 2023 Super Four Live

“Obviously bat first, no particular reason other than the heat. If we can put runs on the board, we can put pressure on Pakistan. Similar to the match we played against Afghanistan, we want to replicate that. We have to be at our best. We aren’t worried about what the opposition can do to us. We know their strengths and weakness. Just once change. Shanto is not playing, Litton Das replaces him,” said Shakib after winning the toss.

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On the other hand, Babar Azam stated that he would also have opted to bat first, given the hot weather in Lahore. He added the players are habitual of playing in such conditions and are looking forward to this game as well. The Pakistan skipper is just one century away from equalling the record of legendary Saeed Anwars’ tally of 20 ODI hundreds.

“We would have batted as well. There’s a bit of grass and we’ll try to use that. We are looking very well in the pace department. We are used to his heat as we’ve played a lot of cricket. (One century from equaling Anwar’s century count) I am looking forward to this match, I’ll try to break the record but I’m looking to win this match. Last night we saw a bit of help for fast bowlers, that’s why we have an extra fast bowler,” Azam said at the toss.

Here are the playing XIs:

Bangladesh: Mohammad Naim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Litton Das, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud.

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf