Pakistan announces squad for Asia Cup opener against Nepal

Babar Azam will captain the Pakistani team with Shadab Khan as his vice-captain. The other players in the squad are Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.

Pakistan, who are the top-ranked one-day international team in the world, will face Nepal in the Group A fixture at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

It will be the first time that Nepal will play in the Asia Cup, and also the first time that Multan will host a match in the tournament. The two teams have never met before at this level.

The match will start at 14:30 local time (09:30 GMT), preceded by a colourful opening ceremony.

his team prepared for their opening match of the Asia Cup against Nepal.

“It is always a great feeling to play in front of the passionate Multan crowd and we all are very excited that the Asia Cup is beginning from this city,” Babar told reporters.

“I want to congratulate Nepal for qualifying for the Asia Cup and I hope that their participation will give a boost to the development of the sport in the country. We are looking forward to playing Nepal and I am sure it will be a good contest.”

Pakistan are on a roll in ODIs, having swept Afghanistan 3-0 in Sri Lanka on Saturday to top the ICC rankings for the second time since April.

Nepal, who earned their ODI status in 2018, will make their debut in the Asia Cup, which is a 50-over tournament featuring six teams from Asia.