Afridi leads Pakistan to Dhaka today
Sports Reporter
Title aspirants Pakistan led by Shahid Afridi is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka today to play the thirteenth Asia Cup 2016 Bangladesh.
They will land at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by a flight of Emirates at 7:30pm.
After the arrival in Dhaka, Pakistan, who clinched the trophy two-times that from Bangladesh in 2000 and 2012, will hold their first practice session at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) ground in Mirpur on Thursday.
Two-times champions will start their Asia Cup campaign against its arch-rival India, who will play against the hosts Bangladesh in the opener.
This time Afridi will lead comparatively a young side at his disposal with four uncapped players. In the squad, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Akmal are the only experienced campaigners, who have to take the bulk of the onus on their shoulder from most of the scoring to win for the team.
Pakistans pace battery remains always stronger. This time it is not exceptional as the teams pace department has been formed with the blend of Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Sami and Mohammed Amir, who impressed everybody in PSL and BPL returning to the action after the fixing scam.
In the spin department, Pakistan lack a specialist tweaker and have banked upon Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Imad Wasim.
Pakistan squad: Shahid Afridi (Captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Anwar Ali, Khalid Lateef, Khurram Manzoor, Wahab Riaz, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Sharzeel Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Akmal
