NEW DELHI: A day before the blockbuster clash against arch-rivals India in the Asia Cup in Pallekele, Pakistan on Friday announced their playing XI.
Continuing with their tradition of announcing the XI on the eve of the match, Pakistan in a non-surprising move left the team unchanged.
The same side crushed Asia Cup debutants Nepal in the tournament opener in Multan on Wednesday. The match saw skipper Babar Azam firing a sensational 151 while middle order batter Iftikhar Ahmed (109*) too scored his maiden ton of the format as Pakistan beat Nepal by a mammoth 238 runs.
In the pre-match press conference, Pakistan captain Babar informed that the PCB would reveal the playing XI against India.
Babar also hoped that there could be a bit more contribution from the middle-order to support the top three -- himself, Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman.
"The top order has been contributing well in recent times. The boys in the middle order are trying their best to chip in and hopefully they will be able to do it against India," he said.
The two teams will be up against one another for the first time since the T20 World Cup encounter in Australia in October last year.
Pakistan XI
Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
