The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) unveiled the Pakistan World Cup squad for the upcoming tournament in India on Friday.
Babar Azam will serve as the team’s captain, with Shadab Khan maintaining his position as vice-captain, and the squad welcomes back Hassan Ali.
In an expected alteration, Hasan Ali has taken the place of Naseem Shah in the 15-member World Cup squad. Naseem sustained a shoulder injury during the Asia Cup 2023 and is likely to remain sidelined for an extended period.
Pakistan squad for ICC World Cup 2023
- Babar Azam (c)
- Abdullah Shafique
- Fakhar Zaman
- Imam-ul-Haq
- Iftikhar Ahmed
- Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
- Shadab Khan
- Mohammad Nawaz
- Usama Mir
- Haris Rauf
- M Wasim Jnr
- Hasan Ali
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Saud Shakeel
- Salman Ali Agha
Traveling reserves:
- Mohammad Haris
- Abrar Ahmed
- Zaman Khan
Pakistan has made two changes to the squad that participated in the Asia Cup 2023, with all-rounder Faheem Ashraf being omitted and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Haris moving to the reserves.
Pakistan is scheduled to play two warm-up matches, the first against New Zealand on September 29 and the second against Australia on October 3, leading up to their tournament opener against the Netherlands on October 6.
The Cricket World Cup will adopt a round-robin format, featuring all teams competing against each other in a total of 45 league matches.
The top four teams emerging from the league stage will earn a spot in the semifinals, scheduled for November 15 in Mumbai and November 16 in Kolkata. Both the semifinals and the final will have designated reserve days.
Pakistan’s schedule for the ICC World Cup 2023:
October 6 Pakistan- vs Netherlands in Hyderabad
October 10 Pakistan – vs Sri Lanka in Hyderabad
October 14 Pakistan – vs India in Ahmedabad
October 20 Pakistan – vs Australia in Bengaluru
October 23 Pakistan- vs Afghanistan in Chennai
October 27 Pakistan- vs South Africa in Chennai
October 31 Pakistan- vs Bangladesh in Kolkata
November 4 Pakistan- vs New Zealand in Bengaluru
November 11 Pakistan – vs England in Kolkata
Babar Azam’s team enters the mega-event as the top-ranked side, boasting the best win/loss ratio of 2.400 in this World Cup cycle among all teams participating in the One-Day International format.
Stay tuned with us for the latest Pakistan Cricket Updates and all the events and developments in the ICC World Cup 2023.