Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan blamed 'Hyderabadi Biryani' for the poor fielding during the ICC World Cup 2023 warm-up games played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.
Pakistan lost their second warm-up game to Australia by 14 runs as they fell short in a chase of 352. They had suffered a defeat to New Zealand by five wickets in the first warm-up game.
Talking after the game against Australia on Tuesday, Shadab Khan, who led the side instead of regular skipper Babar Azam, said the squad is enjoying their time in Hyderabad.
He also shed light on the positives from both the warm-up games.
"Result is not important. We took a lot of positives. Our attitude was good, result not in our hands. I think our 11 is sorted, we just wanted to give time to the bench to show their skills. When you play against Australia and New Zealand, you get confidence. We got a little bit experience of conditions [in Hyderabad],"
"We are eating it daily, and perhaps that is why we are getting a bit slow (laughs)," Shadab said when asked about Hyderabadi biryani.
It must be noted that the Pakistan team landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India, on September 27 from Dubai to participate in the mega event.
Pakistan will begin their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on October 6.
Pakistan squad for ICC World Cup 2023
Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, M Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha.
Travelling reserves: Mohammad Haris, Abrar Ahmed, Zaman Khan.
Pakistan's schedule for the ICC World Cup 2023
October 6 — vs Netherlands in Hyderabad
October 10 — vs Sri Lanka in Hyderabad
October 14 — vs India in Ahmedabad
October 20 — vs Australia in Bengaluru
October 23 — vs Afghanistan in Chennai
October 27 — vs South Africa in Chennai
October 31 — vs Bangladesh in Kolkata
November 4 — vs New Zealand Bengaluru (Day match)
November 11 — vs England in Kolkata
The day matches which will start at 10:00am Pakistan Standard Time (PST) while all other matches will be day-night fixtures starting at 01:30pm (PST).
If Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals, they will play in Kolkata.
If India qualify for the semi-finals, they will play in Mumbai unless playing against Pakistan, in which case they will play in Kolkata.
