Pakistan should think of this Champions Trophy as an opportunity to improve their ODI rankings rather than just focusing on the title. If Pakistan manages to beat India and South Africa and Bangladesh loses to Australia and England then Pakistan will move to number 6 position in ICC ODI rankings.
In order to do this, Pakistan will have to play positively and take every game as an opportunity to express themselves as a good ODI side rather than worrying about the results. They shouldn't give much importance to the India game, just go out there and have fun. Pakistan has nothing to lose here. The are already the weakest team in the competition on paper with no dynamic players in the squad.
Pakistan will also have to make some bold decisions. I agree with a lot of other people here that Sarfaraz will be a waste at any position lower than 4. Even though Pakistan lost the England series very badly, still Sarfaraz was the leading run scorer from both teams. Other than Sarfaraz and Babar, I see no one who is suited well to modern ODIs. Although this isn't an ideal squad, but we don't have any other players. I would prefer Azhar over Shehzad because he might show some intent and try to play positively. We could try Fakhar also, but he should also look to rotate the strike. Hafeez will be picked because of the bowling. Ideally, Hafeez should come lower down the order because we have absolutely no one to hit big there, but he won't so he should just open. I am not sure how Malik and Harris can fit in one ODI team, but I am sure they both will play.
My eleven from the current squad would be:
Azhar > Fakhar > Shehzad
Hafeez
Babar (Must be No.3)
Sarfaraz (Must be No.4)
Harris
Malik
Imad > Fahim
Wahab
Amir > Juniad
Shadab
Hasan
In order to do this, Pakistan will have to play positively and take every game as an opportunity to express themselves as a good ODI side rather than worrying about the results. They shouldn't give much importance to the India game, just go out there and have fun. Pakistan has nothing to lose here. The are already the weakest team in the competition on paper with no dynamic players in the squad.
Pakistan will also have to make some bold decisions. I agree with a lot of other people here that Sarfaraz will be a waste at any position lower than 4. Even though Pakistan lost the England series very badly, still Sarfaraz was the leading run scorer from both teams. Other than Sarfaraz and Babar, I see no one who is suited well to modern ODIs. Although this isn't an ideal squad, but we don't have any other players. I would prefer Azhar over Shehzad because he might show some intent and try to play positively. We could try Fakhar also, but he should also look to rotate the strike. Hafeez will be picked because of the bowling. Ideally, Hafeez should come lower down the order because we have absolutely no one to hit big there, but he won't so he should just open. I am not sure how Malik and Harris can fit in one ODI team, but I am sure they both will play.
My eleven from the current squad would be:
Azhar > Fakhar > Shehzad
Hafeez
Babar (Must be No.3)
Sarfaraz (Must be No.4)
Harris
Malik
Imad > Fahim
Wahab
Amir > Juniad
Shadab
Hasan
