Pakistan cricket team may have a new head coach in place but it’s playing eleven against Sri Lanka will reportedly be quite similar to how it was in World Cup 2019.
The Pakistani innings, as was the case during the World Cup, will be opened by Fakhar Zaman and Imamul Haq neither of which had a stellar World Cup campaign, and the former of which endured a torrid 2018-19 season.
Babar Azam will purportedly bat at one-down position, followed by Haris Sohail. The biggest surprise, perhaps, comes in the form of the batting order, with head coach Misbahul Haq having assigned the number five slot for captain Sarfaraz Ahmed.
The skipper had at times been accused of hiding behind his teammates when the going gets tough, but the new head coach seems adamant on addressing that by promoting Sarfaraz up the order.
Coming after captain Sarfaraz will be recalled batsman Iftikhar Ahmed — one of the two changes in store.
The spin bowling all-rounders’ spots will continue to be occupied by Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan, whereas Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Usman Shinwari will split fast bowling duties.
Shinwari will be the like-for-like replacement of Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has been rested for the series after contracting dengue virus during the off-season.
