Asia Cup 202: Pakistan to lock horns with Sri Lanka today
Pakistan will play in their fifth Asia Cup final, while Sri Lanka will play in their eleventh.
Pakistan has won the Asia Cup twice, while Sri Lanka has won it five times.
Pakistan was defeated by Sri Lanka in a previous Super Four game.
At the Dubai International Stadium, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will square off in what is predicted to be an exciting Asia Cup 2022 championship game.
The day before the championship game, neither team played any cricket. The Pakistani team for the final will feature two alterations. The team will feature Shadab Khan and Naseem Shah, who was rested for the Super Four game against Sri Lanka. Hassan Ali and Usman Qadir took their places in the Super Four game.
According to sources, the middle order and Fakhar Zaman have been consistently failing to score runs, which has angered the Pakistan team management.
Asia Cup 202: Pakistan to lock horns with Sri Lanka today
The Islanders will give it their all to win the Asia Cup trophy for the sixth time as they compete in their 11th final. Pakistan has advanced to the cricket competition’s final five times and is well-positioned to win the trophy for the third time.
Five wickets separated Pakistan and Sri Lanka in their previous match. Saqlain Mushtaq, Pakistan’s head coach, downplayed the loss, saying his team was focused on the bigger picture: winning the Asia Cup trophy.
“Since the final is the only thing on our minds right now, we just wanted to try a few things. In a somewhat unimportant match, you would see a different Pakistani team than the one you saw the other day. Since all of our efforts are directed toward winning the Cup, every player will perform at his very best in the championship game, he claimed.
“I am happy to represent a team that is full of potential. Every player is a matchwinner. We see a new Man of the Encounter in every match,” said skipper Babar Azam to the players.
His “two sixes against Afghanistan reminded us of Javed Miandad’s heroics,” he said in praising Naseem Shah.
The team batting second always has the edge in Dubai, thus Babar placed great importance on winning the toss, saying, “I feel that the toss will have its influence on the outcome of the match.”
Pakistan, according to Sri Lanka’s skipper Dasun Shanaka, is a very capable team. When we lost the opening match of the competition against India, Shadab Khan commented, “We were convinced we would ascend. And we did get up. Rizwan performed incredibly well against Hong Kong, and our team’s thorough bowling performance guided us to a victory that gave us more confidence. Although I was the player of the match against Afghanistan, Nawaz in the Super-4 match displayed superior all-around abilities, and those two sixes by Naseem Shah will live in infamy.
Squads
Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan (VC), Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Hasnain are all players for Pakistan.
Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Pramod Madushan, Maheesh Theekshana, and Dilshan Madushanka are all players from Sri Lanka.
Less than 24 hours to go for the #AsiaCup2022 grand finale! 🤩
How excited are you❓#SLvPAK #RoaringForGlory pic.twitter.com/siMhOOZYN7
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) September 10, 2022
