The Asian Games 2023 will be held in Hangzhou, China. This competition is scheduled from September 23 to October 8 this year. Cricket has featured twice at the Asian Games but did not feature in the last Games held in Jakarta in 2018.
Cricket World Cup 2023 is also scheduled from October 5 to November 19. So players pool for the mega event are not considered for the Asian Games 2023. Now let’s discuss the history of the Asian Games in cricket as well as the Pakistan probable squad for this event.
History of Cricket in the Asian Games
Cricket was first time featured at the Asian Games in 2010, in which Bangladesh are the gold medalist while Afghanistan and Pakistan got silver and bronze medals respectively. Although India did not participate.
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In the 2014, Asian Games South Korea were featured for the second time, in which Pakistan and India, did not participate. Sri Lanka won the gold medal in this event while Afghanistan and Bangladesh got silver and bronze medals respectively.
In 2018, at the Asian Games in Jakarta, Cricket was not featured in that year.
Top Order
In the absence of regular openers, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub and Abdulah Safique will likely take the role of Pakistan in the Asian Games 2023. Saim recently debuted for Pakistan against Afghanistan. Furthermore, he scored 341 runs with a massive strike rate of 165.5 in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) eighth edition.
Abdullah Safique, who scored 268 runs in PSL-8 with an impressive strike rate of 144, is another possible opener. After an impressive performance in T20 Blast 2023, Haider Ali could return to the Pakistan team in Asian Games 2023. He scored 268 runs with a good strike rate of 138.4 in the ongoing T20 Blast.
Hassebullah will also be available as a backup wicketkeeper and as well as a backup opener.
Middle Order
Tayyab Tahir and hard hitter batter Asil Ali will likely take the change as middle order batter along with veteran batter Sarfaraz Ahmed. Sarfaraz will likely return to Pakistan’s T20 team in this Asian Games 2023 and there is a possibility of also taking charge of the group.
Khushdil Shah and Qasim Akram, Azam Khan are also considered middle-order batters in the upcoming Asian Games 2023.
Spinners
Spinners play a significant role in the shorter format of the game. In the absence of regular spinners Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Qadir and Abrar Ahmed are likely to include in the Asian Games 2023 squad.
In past, Usman Qadir did not get consistent chances in playing IX so, if he is selected for the mega event there will be a huge opportunity for Usman to prove his worth.
Fast Bowers
The main bowlers will be busy in the World Cup 2023. So there is an opportunity for the others. Hassan Ali is one of them who will likely return to the Pakistan team for the Asian Games 2023 squad. Hassan is out of the Pakistan squad for 10 months due to his poor form. But he performed well in the county season and also got selected for the test squad against Sri Lanka.
The young sensational Zaman Khan and Ihsanulah will likely get their place in the upcoming event. Furthermore, Shahnawaz Dahani and Faheem Ashraf will also be there. Abbas Afridi will also be available in the reserves.
Pakistan Final Squad for Asian Games 2023
Batters
- Saim
- Abdullah
- Haider Ali
- Taiyab Tahir
- Asif Ali
- Khusdil Shah
Wicket Keepers
- Sarfraz Ahmad(C)
- Haseebullah
Spinners
- Usman Qadir
- Abrar Ahmed
Fast Bowlers
- Hassan Ali
- Faheem Ashraf
- Ihsanulallah
- Zaman Khan
- Shahnawaz Dahani
Reserves
- Qasim Akram
- Abbas Afridi
- Azam Khan
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