Bengaluru: The ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 commenced on Thursday. This is the first time the World Cup is hosted solely by India. India will begin their campaign in the World Cup this time by facing Australia in Chennai on October 8. On the other hand, Pakistan landed in India after seven years. Millions of Indians are waiting to watch the match between India and Pakistan on October 14 in Ahmedabad.
India and Pakistan is not able to tour each other's countries for a bilateral series after the diplomatic crisis escalated between the two countries. India and Pakistan face each other only in International Cricket Council and Asian Cricket Council tournaments. The last time Shahid Afridi-led Pakistan team came to India was in 2016 for the T20I World Cup.
Only two Pakistani players, who are part of the current squad for the World Cup toured India before. Now after exactly seven years, Pakistan has come to India. Pakistan will start their campaign against the Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on October 6. Out of the 15 members of the Pakistan World Cup squad, only two have toured India before. They are only Mohammad Nawaz and Salman Ali Agha.
Mohammad Nawaz, who was included in the Shahid Afridi-led Pakistan team for the 2016 T20I World Cup, came to India. But Nawaz did not get a place in the playing 11. Another player Salman Ali Agha arrived in India in 2014. But it was not in the national team. Salman was included in the Lahore Lions team that came to India for the Champions League T-20 tournament.
Agha played in the match against the Dolphins held at M Chinnaswamy Ground here. The other 13 players in the Pakistan team have no experience playing cricket in India, so there is a lot of curiosity and expectations.
Pakistan Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Imam-ul-Haq, Faqar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Shaheen Shah Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Mir, Abdullah Shafiq
