Fakhar Zaman returns for Pakistan in must-win fixture against Netherlands – T20 IPL 2024

Toss Netherlands chose to bat vs Pakistan

After seven weeks of being sidelined with a knee injury, Fakhar Zaman has returned to the Pakistan XI in their must-win game against Netherlands in Perth. He replaces Haider Ali in the middle order, with Pakistan being asked to chase by Netherlands captain Scott Edwards.

While Fakhar has usually batted as opener or, most recently, at No. 3 for Pakistan, he is carded at No. 4 with Shan Masood finding considerable success at No. 3 at this T20 World Cup so far.

Netherlands, also searching for their first win in Group 2, made three changes, bringing back opener Stephan Myburgh, seamer Brandon Glover and left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe. Left out were opener Vikramjeet Singh, bowling allrounder Logan van Beek and legspinner Shariz Ahmed.

Under sunny skies, Pakistan captain Babar Azam said that the team’s prior experience in Perth will allow them to approach the batting innings better, especially in the first six overs. Edwards said that Netherlands’ line up reflects what they think would work best in conditions offered at the Perth Stadium.

From here on, if Pakistan win their last three games – against Netherlands, South Africa and Bangladesh – then they will finish on six points. But that may not be enough to qualify for the semi-finals since they need other results – India beating South Africa later today, among others – to go their way to have a chance of making it to the top two.

Pakistan XI: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (capt), Shan Masood, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah.

Netherlands XI: Stephan Myburgh, Max O’ Dowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Tom Cooper, Scott Edwards (wk, capt) Roelof van der Merwe, Tim Pringle, Fred Klaassen, Brandon Glover, Paul van Meekeren.

Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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