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'Confidence hil gyi sabki India se haarkar' - Fans react as Pakistan makes last-minute changes to their Playing XI against Sri Lanka in Asia Cup 2023

Pakistan made a couple of last-minute changes to their playing XI for the Asia Cup 2023 Super Fours match against Sri Lanka.

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Daniel S
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Pakistan (Source: Twitter)

After an interruption of almost two hours, the rain god has shown some mercy in Colombo and the crucial Asia Cup 2023 Super Fours match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka got underway with revised playing conditions. Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat first in the 45-over match at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Thursday (September 14).

With both teams losing to India in the Super Fours, the winners of Pakistan vs Sri Lanka will advance to the final of the continental event on September 17. However, the threat of rain still remains and if both teams do not get to play for at least 20 overs, there will be no result. As there is no Reserve Day, if the match is washed out due to rain or a wet outfield, the two teams will share one point and end the Super Fours with three points each. In that case, the home team will progress to the final because of their higher net run rate (-0.200) than Pakistan’s -1.892.

Meanwhile, both the teams have made changes in their playing XIs from the last match. The Men in Green announced five changes yesterday, but they were forced to make some last-minute changes to the sheet today. Opener Imam Ul Haq has picked up a back spasm and Fakhar Zaman, who was dropped yesterday, is his replacement. Saud Shakeel - who was named as a replacement for Agha Salman - has picked up an illness, and therefore Abdullah Shafique will come into the middle order.

Earlier, star pacers Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah had withdrawn from the match due to injury. Sri Lanka also made a couple of changes to their squad with Pramod Madushan replacing Kasun Rajitha and Kusal Perera returning in place of Dimuth Karunaratne.

What did the captains of both teams say during the toss?

Babar Azam (Pakistan): "We will bat first. We are trying to put runs on the board and put pressure on them. Second innings, the pitch behaves differently. Imam has a back spasm. Fakhar comes back. Saud Shakeel has fever. Abdullah Shafique is playing."

Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka): "We would have bowled first. There'll be more assistance for spinners. The way we batted, we had our chances but we couldn't capitalise (against India). We've got a couple of changes. Pramodh Madushan comes in for Rajitha and Kusal Janith comes in for Dimuth Karunaratne."

Playing XIs of both teams

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Mohammad Haris, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Zaman Khan

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka(c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Matheesha Pathirana

Here's how fans reacted to Pakistan making several changes to their Playing XI against Sri Lanka:

pakistan Sri lanka Asia Cup 2023