The 1st ODI between Pakistan VS Zimbabwe is today 27 August 2013 at Harare. Watch live streaming of the whole match only at ISCPak.
Team news:
Captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdur Rehman and Asad Shafiq are the additions to the Pakistan squad for the ODIs in place of Sohail Tanvir, Zulfiqar Babar and Sohaib Maqsood, although there was a case for keeping the inexperienced batsman Maqsood around the team for the ODI leg.
Pakistan (possible) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Asad Shafiq/Umar Amin, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Saeed Ajmal, 9 Asad Ali/Abdur Rehman, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammad Irfan
In another unfortunate reminder of how things are, Zimbabwe announced their 18-member ODI squad late on the eve of the first ODI, but it remains to be seen what XI features for the game.
Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Sikandar Raza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Timcyen Maruma, 8 Shingi Masakadza, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Brian Vitori, 11 Tinashe Panyangara
In the Spotlight:
As if all the responsibility of being Zimbabwe’s leading batsman and captain wasn’t enough, Brendan Taylor also dearly needs to rouse his side at this juncture, with both words as a leader and deeds with the bat. That this hasn’t been a productive season for him won’t help, but form as a constraint fades before the enormity of the task in front of him.
Nasir Jamshed was dropped from the Test side for this tour after just two games against a tough opponent like South Africa. He’s spoken about how disappointed he felt, and how he plans to make a come back with good limited-overs performances. He could not do much in the T20s, now comes the format in which he’s impressed the most.
Stats and Facts:
- Pakistan have won 12 of the 15 ODIs they have played in Zimbabwe against the hosts. Zimbabwe were able to win one and tie another, but both those matches were back in 1995.
- Shahid Afridi has played 354 ODIs for Pakistan, and needs three games to overtake Wasim Akram. Only Inzamam-ul-Haq is in front after that, with 375 matches for his country.