LAHORE: Pakistan and Sri Lanka will lock horns on Tuesday in the eighth game of the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
The Men in Green won their opening game of the competition by 81 runs against the Netherlands while Sri Lanka lost to South Africa by 102 runs.
According to sources, Pakistan discussed their playing XI today for the game against Sri Lanka during the practice session and they are likely to make one change in their playing XI.
Opener Fakhar Zaman may be replaced by emerging batter Abdullah Shafique.
Fakhar, 33, has been out of form lately and has only scored 183 runs in ten games. Meanwhile, Abdullah Shafique has played four ODIs where he has scored 80 runs.
Pakistan's likely playing XI:
Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi,
On the other hand, Sri Lanka got a massive boost ahead of the match against Pakistan. Key spinner Maheesh Theekshana is likely to mark his return in the starting XI after missing the Islanders’ tournament opener against South Africa.
Sri Lanka’s assistant coach Naveed Nawaz has confirmed that Theekshana is likely to be part of the playing XI that will take on the Green Shirts in an important match as the Lankans will look forward to making up for their defeat against the Proteas.
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.- Fakhar Zaman