A view of the Rajiv Gandhi stadium in Hyderabad before the start of the Pakistan-Netherlands ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match, on October 6, 2023
| Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal
Netherlands won the toss and elected to bowl against Pakistan in their opening ODI World Cup match in Hyderabad on October 6.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali are back in the playing eleven for Pakistan.
Pakistan enters the match as the overwhelming favourite .Pakistan will be counting on Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Shadab Khan to perform at their peak levels given the high-scoring potential of the Hyderabad wicket, which was evident in the warm-up games.
The Dutch will need to lead Pakistan at the appropriate times and then maintain that lead in order to win the game.
Speaking at the time of the toss, Netherlands captain Scott Edwards said, “We will bowl first, might get a little bit easier under lights. For us, it’s about adjusting and seeing how the pitch is playing.” “We will try our best with the bat. We are looking at 290-300 plus,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said.
Teams
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max O’Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (wk/c), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren.
(With inputs from ANI)