What would be your starting XI for the T20 World Cup match against India?

[Saj]

Only a few days to go and with both warm-up matches now out of the way, it's time for Pakistan's think-tank to come up with their starting XI for the big match against India.

What would be your starting XI in what promises to be a tough match?

 

[nam]

This will be starting 11 unfortunately
1Babar
2Rizwan
3Fakhar
4Hafeez
5Malik
6Asif Ali
7Imad
8Shadab
9Hasan
10Rauf
11Shaheen

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Rizwan
Haider
Fakhar (c)
Hafeez
Malik
Asif
Imad
Nawaz
Wasim jnr
Hassan
Shaheen

Our best xi.

 

[nextover666666]

This will be starting 11 unfortunately
1Babar
2Rizwan
3Fakhar
4Hafeez
5Malik
6Asif Ali
7Imad
8Shadab
9Hasan
10Rauf
11Shaheen

Seems like that is what it will be.

 

[nextover666666]

I would like to bring in Dahani but believe he can only come I'm if someone is injured the bowling looks very light on Pakistans end. It's hard to pick but I guess I would go with this

1) Babar
2) Rizwan
3) Fakhar
4) Haidar Ali
5) Malik
6) Hafeez
7) Imad
8) Shadab
9) Hasan Ali
10) Wasim Jr
11) Shaheen

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Babar
Rizwan
Haider
Fakhar
Hafeez
Malik
Hasan
Imad
Shadab
Shaheen
Dahani

 

[Rana]

Rizwan
Haider
Fakhar (c)
Hafeez
Malik
Asif
Imad
Nawaz
Wasim jnr
Hassan
Shaheen

Our best xi.

Agreed

Fakhar is the only man amongst these boys who should be captain.

 

[Rana]

Nortje was as bad as Rauf and Hassan today

I don’t think SA will look to drop him.

 

[imshally81]

My Wish:
Rizwan
Fakhar
Babar
Malik
Hafeez
Shadab
Imad
Nawaz
Hasan
Wasim Jr.
Shaheen

In real:
Rizwan
Babar
Fakhar
Hafeez
Malik
Asif
Shadab
Imad
Hasan
Haris
Shaheen

 

[Saj]

Rizwan
Haider
Fakhar (c)
Hafeez
Malik
Asif
Imad
Nawaz
Wasim jnr
Hassan
Shaheen

Our best xi.

No Babar Azam?

 

[hitthestump]

Babar
Rizwan
Fakhar
Hafeez
Malik
Haider Ali
Imad
Shadab
Nawaz
Hassan
Shaheen

Been unconvinced by our pacers so far while the spinners have done well. Let's go in spin heavy.

Also, please no Asif Ali against India. We are likely to be humiliated enough as it is.

 

[cricketerB94]

Rizwan
Babar
Fakhar
Haider
Malik
Asif / Hafeez
Shadab
Imad
Hasan
Waseem
Shaheen

Bowling is week, so we need batting till no.10 and should try to score more than 200 in every match.

 

[Major]

Babar
Rizwan
Fakhar
Hafeez
Malik
Asif Ali
Imad
Shadab Khan
Hasan
Harris Rauf
Shaheen

Indian batsmen will end up spanking shadab khan

Harris Rauf needs to be checked, if he is getting spanked than use Hafeez.

 

[Cric_lover4487]

Rizwan
Haider
Fakhar (c)
Hafeez
Malik
Asif
Imad
Nawaz
Wasim jnr
Hassan
Shaheen

Our best xi.

Why not Haider in place of Asif Ali? Haider is in great form.

 

[Guardian]

Rizwan
Fakhar
Babar
Malik
Asif
Hafeez
Nawaz
Imad
Wasim Jr
Hasan
Shaheen

A deep batting line-up that goes till no.10. And 7 players who can bowl in case some are having a off day. All bases should be covered with this one.

 

[ritzy_123]

1) Muhammad Rizwan
2) Babar Azam
3) Fakhar Zaman
4) Shoaib Malik
5) Asif Ali
6) Muhammad Hafeez
7) Imad Wasim
8) Shadab Khan/Muhammad Nawaz
9) Hasan Ali
10) Muhammad Wasim Jnr.
11) Shaheen Shah Afridi

 

[ChennaiFan]

My Indian 11 will be:

KL Rahul
Rohit Sharma
Ishan Kishan
Virat Kohli
Suyrakumar Yadav
Rishabh Pant
Ravindra Jadeja
Ravichandran Ashwin
Shardul Thakur
Mohammed Shami
Jasprit Bumrah

 

[Extreme Pace]

1. Mohammed Rizwan (wk)
2. Babar Azam (c)
3. Fakhar Zaman
4. Mohammed Hafeez
5. Haider Ali
6. Shoaib Malik
7. Imad Wasim
8. Hasan Ali
9. Mohammed Wasim
10. Shadab Khan
11. Shaheen Afridi

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Agreed

Fakhar is the only man amongst these boys who should be captain.

And to think this guy was in reserves probably our best attacking batsman, and he was in reserves. Mohammad Wasim should be sacked for that alone.

No Babar Azam?

It’s either Babar or Rizwan. Can’t be both and it can’t be Rizwan because he’s the keeper.

Babar Azam is our Joe Root, a good player but not a T20 batsman.

Why not Haider in place of Asif Ali? Haider is in great form.

Because Haider Ali is too good of a player to be a lower order hitter. Haider Ali can do more damage batting at the top and it’ll take pressure off Fakhar and the rest.

Because we bat deep, we can afford to play Asif Ali. If Asif Ali gets out early, not a big deal we have Hassan and Imad coming after him. If Asif Ali gets going, he can change the outcome of the game.

 

[KingKhan12]

Sharjeel
Babar
Rizwan
Fakhar
Haider Ali
Iftikhar Ahmed
Imad
Nawaz
Hasan Ali
Shaheen
Dhani/zahid Mahmood depending on pitch

This team would get very far and could win the world cup but its a dream team. Only if we had people with common sense and reliability running PCB

 

[shamaan]

My line up would be

Rizwan
Babar
Fakhar
Malik
Haider ali
Hafeez
Imad
Shadab
Hassan Ali
Wasim Jnr
Shaheen

Most likely team
Babar
Rizwan
Fakhar
Hafeez
Malik
Asif ali
Imad
Shadab
Hassan Ali
Rauf
Shaheen

 

[Shoaibbtt]

My team:

1. Rizwan (wk)
2. Babar (c)
3. Haider Ali
4. Fakhar
5. Nawaz
6. Hafeez/Asif Ali
7. Imad
8. Shadab
9. Hassan Ali
10. Shaheen
11. Rauf

Team strategy needs to be thought out, where to use what bowler will be key. Chase in my opinion.

 

[offstump]

I’d be surprised if they played Haider given he didn’t even get a sniff in the two warmup matches but I could be wrong. He might be in excellent touch in the nets, I do hope he plays but Asif’s last innings will give the team the wrong impression.

 

[moghul]

Hafeez is too old now to be successful at this level now. He won;t be able to score runs against Indian pacers and I'm sure they know it. Drop him and play Haider Ali instead.

Here is my 11 against India

1-Babar
2-Rizwan
3-Fakhar
4-Haider
5-Malik
6-Asif ( sadly we have no other choice )
7-Imad
8-Shadab
9-Hasan
10-Afridi
11-Rauf

 

[Rana]

In my humble opinion, Haider Ali should play this match. You just never know with India-Pakistan matches. There is always that one patriotic Pakistani player who is made for this clash. Such as Saeed Anwar in the past, Malik, Salman Butt and now Fakhar. Shoaib Akhtar also used to step up for this clash as well.

You never know with players like Haider and Shahnawaz, they may really take in the atmosphere and want to perform on the big stage. I would take a punt and play Haider

 

[iRfaN_LA]

Bowling looks really weak. Hassan Ali and Rauf will get massacred. We don’t have many options do we?

 

[CricLegend]

Sharjeel
Fakhar
Haidar
Babar
Malik
Iftikar
Nawaz
Faheem
Hassan
Imad
Shaheen

This would have been my XI for this T20 World Cup. But we have idiot selectors

 

[CricLegend]

Swap Malik for Rizwan. Move everyone one up and bat Rizwan at number 10

 

[Sycamore]

Babar
Rizwan
Fakhar
Hafeez
Malik
Imad
Nawaz
Shadab
Hasan
Wasim
Shaheen

 

[Ab Fan]

Babar
Fakhar
Rizwan
Hafeez
Malik
Haider
Imad
Shadab
Hasan
Shaheen
Dunno? Who else??

Babar and Fakhar should open and Rizwan bat at 3.

 

[Last Monetarist]

Rizwan
Fakhar
Babar
Haider
Malik
Asif
Imad
Nawaz
Hassan
Shaheen
Rauf

I'd push Babar to number 3, and drop Hafeez and Shadab.

 

[Mesozoic]

Pakistan can't be serious about making it out of the group stages with a bowling attack of Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan.

I can only laugh when people still use lame old cliches like "Pakistan has a shtraaangg bowling attack for T20s ", when the reality is completely different. I'd rather have the SL trio of Dushmantha Chameera, Chamika Karunaratne and Wanindu Hasaranga over the above ones.

Batting actually looks pretty solid this time around.

 

[mon858]

Unlikely but my Xi from the 15:

Haider
Babar
Fakhar
Rizwan (only if lose 2nd wicket in first 9)
Hafeez
Asif
Imad
Hasan
Nawaz
Wasim
Shaheen

Shadab will get spanked, and doesn't do anything with bat anyway. Nawaz is in better batting form plus more control and can even bowl in powerplay. Plus he gives a leftie in batting so we can keep right left combo going.

We can only afford one of hafeez or shoaib. I am keeping hafeez due to his bowling. Shoaib will struggle to get going. Don't believe me check his cpl 2021.

Rauf will get smashed. Ideally I would have wanted one of wahab, amir, rumman raees, Imran khan, or even dahani in place of him but we have no choice. I think wasim Jr will do better than Rauf. Plus handy bat if it comes to close chase

 

[Kaddy]

Shadab Khan should be dropped, play Nawaz instead.

Normally leg spinners don't trouble India.

 

[gazza619]

My Indian 11 will be:

KL Rahul
Rohit Sharma
Ishan Kishan
Virat Kohli
Suyrakumar Yadav
Rishabh Pant
Ravindra Jadeja
Ravichandran Ashwin
Shardul Thakur
Mohammed Shami
Jasprit Bumrah

Mate that is too strong a eleven.

Have some mercy please.

 

[gazza619]

Shadab Khan should be dropped, play Nawaz instead.

Normally leg spinners don't trouble India.

Nope I think we need a leggie in there. Adil Rashid always troubles India.

 

[gazza619]

I genuinely dont understand why is Malik is everyone’s starting XI. What will Pakistan achieve by a 20 ball 22?

We need to take a risk with Haider here.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

1. Fakhar Zaman
2. Rizwan
3. Asif Ali
4. Babar Azam
5. Haider Ali
6. Shoaib Malik
7. Mohammad Nawaz
8. Imad Wasim
9. Hasan Ali
10. Shaheen Shah Afridi
11. Mohammad Wasim.

Pakistan would need to do something out of the box.
Fakhar and Asif Ali should be given free hand at the top.
Babar can stabilize if the experiement fail.

If same boring approuch is taken then India wins without even sweating.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

You can't keep selecting expired oldies like Hafeez and Malik and expect to do well against a team like India.

Also you can't develop and progress if you keep going back to oldies.

Surely it might help you win against smaller teams like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, SL etc. but still the team won't take big steps forward.

Once again after the game we will be cursing the same old players. Hafeez is only usefull if he chucks and that too only against lefties.

 

[indianpanacea]

Babar
Fakhar
Haider
Asif
Nawaz
Hafeez
Rizwan
Imad
Hassan Ali
Afridi
Dhani

 

[Muhammad Saad]

Your playing XI against India?

Mine would be.
Babar
Rizwan
Fakhar
Hafeez
Haider
Imad
Wasim Jr
Hasan
Mahmood
Shaheen
Dhani

Don't know if it's even possible but we can only down India with surprise element of Dhani, Mahmood and Wasim Jr , shahdab and rauf will get plenty of phainta.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

And if there is something for the spinners then Nawaz should come in place of Wasim

 

[Mesozoic]

Who's Mahmood?

 

[sam_ahm]

Pakistan would do well to go in with Haider Ali and Wasim but yeah they will pick Asif Ali and Rauf over those two.

I also think Sarfaraz over Malik is a better option but I guess Malik will get picked.

 

[Major]

Its funny how people are suggesting Haider Ali. The guy hasn't even performed in international. He fails alot. ANd you want him to play against India. Its a high pressure game.


Malik is ok, he can play spin. But the replacements of Malik are no good either.

As for bowling, Shadab willl get his for 6s.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Its funny how people are suggesting Haider Ali. The guy hasn't even performed in international. He fails alot. ANd you want him to play against India. Its a high pressure game.


Malik is ok, he can play spin. But the replacements of Malik are no good either.

As for bowling, Shadab willl get his for 6s.

There’s no harm in trying him, we’re expected to lose with or without him in the team.

If he plays well, there may be a chance of us winning because he’s the kind of player that has the ability to score 70 odd off 40 balls.

 

[Major]

There’s no harm in trying him, we’re expected to lose with or without him in the team.

If he plays well, there may be a chance of us winning because he’s the kind of player that has the ability to score 70 odd off 40 balls.

This is a world cup match, not a warm up.

You cannot just say oh lets start trying players.

There is no point in arguing about ability. If we talk ability wise each and every batsmen has that in scoring 50s. Haider Ali has been tried and test, done nothing so I dont understand why people think he will perform against India.

If India does defeat us it would be through their spinners. So might aswell use malik here. Even though I dont agree with maliks selection, but based on what we have Malik would make the cut. Haider Ali hasn't proved himself.

 

[TNAmarkFromIndia]

KL Rahul
Rohit Sharma
Virat Kohli
Ishan Kishan
Rishabh Pant
Suryakumar Yadav
Ravindra Jadeja
Shardul Thakur
Ravichandran Ashwin
Mohammed Shami
Jasprit Bumrah

 

[Rajdeep]

As per reports, India would drop SKY, Ashwin and Bhuvi for Pak game.

 

[uzairmanzoor13]

Babar Azam
Muhammad Rizwan
Fakhar Zaman
Shoaib Malik
Muhammad Hafeez
Asif Ali
Nawaz/Shadab (I prefer Nawaz because of his economical Bowling but it is unlikely he will play)
Imad Waseem
Hassan Ali
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Haris Rauf

This will be most likely XI but I really prefer Haider in place of Either Malik or Hafeez as they have very similar strike rate. This team is decent and can a win over strong Indian side.

 

[Ab Fan]

As per reports, India would drop SKY, Ashwin and Bhuvi for Pak game.

Looks perfect. Good picks, especially the bowling part.

Ashwin- NO left hander vs Pakistan
Bhuvi No, Shami a better pick with new bowl vs Pakistan

 

[Ab Fan]

This is a world cup match, not a warm up.

You cannot just say oh lets start trying players.

There is no point in arguing about ability. If we talk ability wise each and every batsmen has that in scoring 50s. Haider Ali has been tried and test, done nothing so I dont understand why people think he will perform against India.

If India does defeat us it would be through their spinners. So might aswell use malik here. Even though I dont agree with maliks selection, but based on what we have Malik would make the cut. Haider Ali hasn't proved himself.

We will be dearly missing Misbah in that Pakistan lineup when they show up against us on Sunday.

 

[JattMaula]

As per reports, India would drop SKY, Ashwin and Bhuvi for Pak game.

I would rather drop Pant if team really wants to play Ishan. Or Hardik if he isn't bowling.

 

[reversehook]

quiet honestly it wont matter whom you play against india, our players make india their boogeyman in the wc games, just dont be mentally shot and you will be just fine. Its 100% mental against them.

 

[Forward Defensive Push]

My XI -

Babar
Rizwan
Fakhar
Hafeez
Malik
Asif
Imad
Hassan
Shadab
Shaheen
Haris

More balance and good match ups all around. Variety is the key. Don't let Indian batsmen settle by bowling the same bowlers for 2-3 over spells. This line up provides us with multiple bowlers and good firepower and stability with the bat as well.

The motto for Pakistan is simple - "Slay their spinners"

 

[IMMY69]

I would get Nawaz in there somehow.

Babar
Rizwan
Fakhar
Haider
Hafeez
Imad Wasim
Nawaz
Wasim Junior
Shadab
Hasan Ali
Shaheen

This gives you plenty of options with the spin bowling.
Wasim Jr and Hasan Ali can both hit it long so they could be a floater depending on our situation, who is bowling at the time etc...Menwhile, if we lose early wickets then Shadab can be promoted and asked to bat sensibly. He is no worse then Malik or Asif with the bat.

Shaheen can open the bowling along with Imad and so on.

 

[Kaddy]

Nope I think we need a leggie in there. Adil Rashid always troubles India.

Adil Rashid's record against India in t20s

Matches - 11
Wickets - 7
Avg - 40.14
Eco - 7.81

Do you call it trouble?

 

[Saurav]

As per reports, India would drop SKY, Ashwin and Bhuvi for Pak game.

source?

 

[Ayubhbaloch]

My playing 11 is different and i know its not possible as well.

1 Mohammad Rizwan
2 Haider Ali
3 Fakhar Zaman
4 Babar Azam
5 Shoaib Malik
6 Asif Ali
7 Mohammad Nawaz
8 Mohammad Wasim
9 Hassan Ali
10 Shaheen Afridi
11 Haris Rauf

 

[CadPakFan]

Rizwan
Haider
Fakhar (c)
Hafeez
Malik
Asif
Imad
Nawaz
Wasim jnr
Hassan
Shaheen

Our best xi.

Dropping Babar?!

 

[sam_ahm]

India can go in with this

Rohit
Rahul
Kishan
Kohli
Pant
Pandya
Jadeja
Thakur
Shami
Chakravarthy
Bumrah

 

[MenInG]

Guess Haider Ali will sit this one out but what if, what if they play him instead of Malik or Prof?

 

[NauV]

After watching today's game, I think Pakistan has made a mistake naming the 12 before seeing what happened today . .
If today's pitches are anything to go by, there is abolutely no reason to go ahead with 3 fast bowlers . . ESPECIALLY when 1 of them (Harris Rauf) is a massive spray gun who might not be so useful in low scoring games . .
Instead, I think they should definitely play Mohammad Nawaz . . he has been in good form in the just concluded national T20 . .
Secondly, top 5/6 in India's batting order are almost certainly going to be right handers . .

The pitches playing the way they did today gives Pak the best chance . .

 

[NauV]

Guess Haider Ali will sit this one out but what if, what if they play him instead of Malik or Prof?

Before today, I would have agreed with you 100%
But if today's pitches in both the games are anything to go by, Haider Ali doesn't stand a chance . . he is a deeply mediocre player against quality spin

I think these conditions are going to make for a 150 plays 150 kinda pitches and NOT 180/200 type pitches . . that actually plays into hands of Pak with Babar, Rizwan, Hafeez, Malik who are in their comfort zone at those strike rates . . plus, Hafeez and Malik are far and away the best batters we have against spin bowling . .

So I am not that bothered about Haider sitting out for this one . . He can play against teams that don't have a potent spin attack beause I surely wouldn't bet on Malik/Hafeez against quality pace

On the flip side, I am worried about Harris Rauf playing over Mohammad Nawaz

 

[moghul]

Drop Hafeez out of the 12 and you have your playing 11.

 

[gazza619]

Will Pakistan open with Imad & Shaheen?

If pakistan can limit Indian batsmen in the first 6 overs, then it can get interesting.

 

[TeymurBlake]

For me

1. Babar Azam (C)
2. Mohammad Rizwan (WK)
3. Shoaib Malik
4. Fakhar Zaman
5. Haider Ali
6. Mohammad Nawaz
7. Mohammad Hafeez
8. Shadab Khan
9. Hasan Ali
10. Mohammad Wasim jnr
11. Shaheen Shah Afridi

This would have been my team.

 

[Manzy2599]

My team would be this. Rizwan needs to come down the order for a left right combo and 2 different types of batsman rather than only accumulators in the top 4.

Babar (C)
Fakhar
Haider
Hafeez
Malik
Rizwan
Imad
Shadab
Hasan
Shaheen
Rauf

 

[Firebat]

After seeing the pitches today Babar and Rizwan should 100% be opening in the powerplay. It is the perfect situation for them. Look how the modern hard hitting Finch-Warner, Roy-Buttler combos got on.

 

[The intelligent Supporter]

All our debating is pretty pointless at this point.

We ALL know Haider is sitting out as team management doesnt experiment at all. Th squad is already confirmed