Afridi Recalled as Pakistan Opt to Bat Against England in Super Eight Clash
Pakistan have recalled left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi for their crucial Super Eight encounter against England in Pallekele, with Faheem Ashraf making way. After winning the toss, captain Salman Agha elected to bat first on a fresh surface.
Afridi returns to the XI despite a challenging tournament so far. His nine overs in the T20 World Cup have conceded 101 runs, and he was left out following Pakistan’s heavy defeat to India in Colombo. He also missed the side’s no-result fixture against New Zealand at the start of the Super Eight stage. However, team management appear to have reinstated him with England’s top order perceived to be vulnerable against left-arm pace.
Ashraf, who played a key role in Pakistan’s group-stage win over the Netherlands with an unbeaten 29 off 11 balls, has had limited opportunities with the ball, delivering just two overs in the tournament while batting lower down the order.
Speaking at the toss, Agha expressed confidence in posting a competitive total. “It looks like a good pitch. We want to put up an above-par score and defend that total,” he said.
England, meanwhile, can secure a semi-final berth with victory in either of their remaining Super Eight fixtures. Captain Harry Brook admitted he would prefer to seal qualification immediately rather than face a must-win clash against New Zealand later in the week.
“That would be lovely, wouldn’t it? But you never know in T20 cricket, it’s such a fickle game,” Brook said.
Brook revealed he would also have chosen to bat first had England won the toss, but expects better batting conditions than those on offer in their recent low-scoring victory over Sri Lanka at the same venue.
“Hopefully, it’s going to be a little bit better. We haven’t had our perfect game yet. Hopefully, it’s just around the corner,” he added.
England have named an unchanged XI for the fifth consecutive match and retained the same batting order despite calls for Brook to move up from No. 5.
The fixture serves as a rematch of the 2022 T20 World Cup final, which England won by five wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with nine players featuring again across the two sides.
Teams
England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (capt), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (capt), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Salman Mirza, Usman Tariq.