Karachi/Colombo: Pakistan is likely to go with four specialist bowlers — two spinners and two pacers — in their T20 World Cup blockbuster game against arch-rivals India Sunday in Colombo, according to sources.
A source close to the team said head coach Mike Hesson and captain Salman Ali Agha were keen to go into the match with both specialist spinners Abrar Ahmed and Usman Tariq and also two specialist fast bowlers in Shaheen Shah Afridi and Salman Mirza.
The team management is also likely to make a call on dropping one all-rounder from among Shadab Khan, Muhammad Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf.
“The only problem for the team management is: if they go in with four specialist bowlers, they have to make a call on who will sit out among Faheem, Shadab and Nawaz,” the source said.
He said with Saim Ayub, Sahabzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Babar Azam and Usman Khan occupying the top five positions, the team management has to decide who to play at number six and seven followed by the four bowlers.
The source said there is a likelihood of Nawaz sitting out since he is a left-arm spinner and India have left-handed batters in Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Verma, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh.
“The feeling is better to play Faheem as he is in good batting form and will be the third pacer if required and Shadab whose leg spin will be useful against the southpaw batters,” the source said.
He said that with Abrar, Usman, Shadab and Saim Ayub available as the spin options, the team management is confident they can manage without Nawaz in the high profile match.
But he insisted that the decision could change after having a final look at the Premadasa stadium pitch on Sunday and also seeing how the weather holds up.
Pakistan will also be playing at the Premadasa for the first time in the tournament.
Pakistan won a T20 series in Sri Lanka last month but all the matches were played in Dambulla while the team has played both its T20 World Cup games against the Netherlands and USA at the Sinhalese Sports Ground.
Probable Pakistan XI: Saim Ayub, Sahabzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha (Capt), Babar Azam, Usman Khan, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq.
PTI
