Pakistan will head into the 2023 World Cup as one of the semi-final contenders. Here is the team preview for Pakistan ahead of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, including their World Cup history, squad, player to watch out for, predicted XI and more. A full preview of the 2023 World Cup appears in issue 71 of Wisden Cricket Monthly.

Pakistan at the 2023 Cricket World Cup: Team Preview

Pakistan have a renown for being unpredictable – a tag they will undoubtedly bear at the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. Ranked No.1 in the ICC ODI rankings as recently as a couple of weeks ago, Pakistan were knocked out at the Super Fours in the Asia Cup. An injury to premier fast bowler Naseem Shah has left them without their first-choice bowling attack. Despite all that, however, they have enough firepower in their ranks to be a serious top-four and maybe even a title contender.

Pakistan’s ODI World Cup history

Pakistan’s only two World Cup final appearances came in the 1990s – in 1992, when they first won the tournament, and in 1999, when they lost to Australia.

In the last two editions, they have failed to reach even the semi-finals. The last time they did, however, was when the World Cup was played in the subcontinent, in 2011. That is something Pakistan can inspiration from.

Pakistan at the 2023 Cricket World Cup: Full squad

Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-Ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Saul Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Haris, Abrar Ahmed, Zaman Khan

Captain: Babar Azam

Coach: Grant Bradburn

Wisden Cricket Monthly’s Most Valuable Player: Haris Rauf

Starting with tape-ball cricket while managing studies and a part-time salespersonn’s job to becoming the third-fastest Pakistani bowler to 50 ODI wickets, Rauf has had a steep rise as one of the most fearsome fast bowlers in international cricket in the last few years.

In Naseem’s absence, he will have an even more significant role to play than he already does for Pakistan in the middle and death overs, and may even have to share new-ball responsibilities with Shaheen.

Player to watch: Babar Azam

As a captain and as a person, Babar Azam is famously inscrutable, which makes it hard to tell exactly how responsible he is for Pakistan’s fortunes.

Equally, in the febrile world of Pakistan cricket, you fancy an element of distance is a wise thing to adopt. As they have built an increasingly threatening side, Babar has been the only constant in a scene of ceaseless flux.

Those caressed cover drives and dreamy flicks now see his ODI average hover around 60 – since the last World Cup, he averages 70. Each century or 1,000 run mark (19 and 5,409 at the time of writing), he is the fastest to. An on-song Babar has the potential to take the World Cup by storm.

Read the piece on Babar Azam in the Wisden Cricket Monthly here.

Pakistan at the 2023 Cricket World Cup: Predicted XI

Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hassan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.

Pakistan at the 2023 Cricket World Cup: Full fixtures list

October 6: Pakistan v Netherlands, Hyderabad, 2 pm
October 10: Pakistan v Sri Lanka, Hyderabad, 2 pm
October 14: Pakistan v India, Ahmedabad, 2 pm
October 20: Pakistan v Australia, Bengaluru, 2 pm
October 23: Pakistan v Afghanistan, Chennai, 2 pm
October 27: Pakistan v South Africa, Chennai, 2 pm
October 31: Pakistan v Bangladesh, Kolkata, 2 pm
November 4: Pakistan v New Zealand, Bengaluru, 10:30 am
November 11: Pakistan v England, Kolkata, 2 pm

A full preview of the 2023 World Cup appears in issue 71 of Wisden Cricket Monthly. 

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