3 Pakistan origin players who will play against Pakistan in World Cup 2023
Pakistan are one of the 10 teams that have qualified for the Cricket World Cup 2023. The Men in Green are aiming to win their first ODI World Cup since 1992.
They performed well in the previous edition of the mega event in 2019, but narrowly fell short of a place in the semifinals.
Babar Azam will captain the Men in Green at the mega event this year. The Asian team has done well in ODI cricket over the last few years; they finished seventh in the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, recording 13 wins in 24 matches.
Considering that Pakistan made it to the finals of T20 World Cup 2022, fans will have high hopes from them when they reach India for the Cricket World Cup 2023. As per the rules of the World Cup, Pakistan will play one match each against the other nine teams.
Interestingly, there will be a total of three Pakistan origin cricketers in the other nine teams. Here's a list of the three names:
#1 Shariz Ahmad will play for Netherlands against Pakistan
Shariz Ahmad was a Shahid Afridi fan growing up, but he plays for the Netherlands cricket team now. Ahmad's family hails from Lahore.
He is a leg-spin bowler who has represented the Netherlands in 11 ODIs, including the recently-concluded Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
Ahmad has scalped 13 wickets in 11 ODI matches so far. He hasn't played much international cricket but he does have some experience of the big stage, having been a part of the Netherlands T20 World Cup 2022 squad last year.
The Netherlands will take on the Men in Green in the second match of Cricket World Cup 2023 on October 6. Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium will play host to the match, where Shariz will go up against Babar Azam and co.
#2 Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali was born in Birmingham, but he is of Pakistani descent.
Ali has been one of England's best cricketers in recent times. The all-rounder has scored 2,212 runs in 103 innings at a strike rate of close to 100 in ODIs.
Ali has accounted for 99 wickets in 119 innings with his right-arm off-spin. Having played a lot of cricket in the IPL, Ali will be a key player for England in the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
He will be up against Pakistan on November 12 at Eden Gardens.
#3 Adil Rashid
Another England cricketer to feature on this list is Adil Rashid.
The leg-spinner with Pakistani background was born in Bradford. Like Moeen Ali, Rashid has been an integral part of the England set-up in the last few years.
Since the pitches in India will likely favor the spinners, both Adil Rashid Khan and Moeen Ali will be key to the defending champions' success. It will be interesting to see how they perform on the big stage.
Rashid starred in England's T20 World Cup win last year, and fans will have high hopes from him this time around too.