PAK vs AFG: Revealed: Why Mohammad Nawaz Is Not Playing Today's Match vs Afghanistan?

Pakistan were forced to make one change to their playing eleven for the upcoming game against Afghanistan in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz won’t be playing the game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Speaking at the toss, Pakistan captain Babar Azam confirmed the news and also revealed the reason. The right-handed batsman stated that Mohammad Nawaz would miss the game due to a fever. He has been replaced by leg-spinner Shadab Khan who was dropped from the playing eleven for the last game against Australia.

Mohammad Nawaz has had an average campaign in the tournament so far. In 4 games, he has picked up just 2 wickets while registering scores of 39, 4 and 14. Babar Azam also opted to bat first after winning the toss. He stated that the pitch was dry and could assist the spinners before urging his teammates to step up and give their best in every game.0

“We will bat first. The pitch looks very dry and might spin. We have one change, Nawaz has fever and Shadab is back. We will have to give our 100% in every match and step-up, that’s what I want from my players. The pitch might help the pacers under lights,” said Babar Azam.

Final preps before we get going ?#PAKvAFG | #DattKePakistani | #WeHaveWeWill pic.twitter.com/bt8QqbVn1y

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 23, 2023

Meanwhile, Afghanistan have also made one change to their playing eleven. They have dropped left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi for left-arm spinner Noor Ahmed who will play his first-ever World Cup game. Speaking about the decision as well as being asked to bat first, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said:

“We wanted to bat first, but the toss is not in your hand. One change for us – Noor Ahmad is in for Fazalhaq Farooqi. We played a series against them in Sri Lanka and we wanted more spinning options. We want to restrict them to 250 or less.”

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad

Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf