World Cup 2023: Pakistan preview – Unpredictable as ever

Pakistan are one of the prime contenders of the World Cup title going into the tournament as the second-ranked team as per the ICC rankings. The ODI World Cup 2023 is all set to begin on October 5 and is being hosted by India.

Past performance

Speaking of Pakistan’s performance in the previous ODI World Cup 2019, the side failed to make it to the knockout stages of the tournament. The side finished in fifth place in the table with 11 points in nine matches. They were tied on points with New Zealand but finished in fifth place due to their inferior run rate. Pakistan’s only World Cup title came in 1992.

Prominent stat

It is also worth noting that Pakistan has quite a few unique records to their name when it comes to the ODI World Cup. Pakistan have never lost a World Cup match against Sri Lanka and similarly have not won a single one against the Indian team.

Squad

Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim.

Schedule

As for their schedule, after competing in the warm-up games, Pakistan will begin their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on Friday, October 6.