NOTTINGHAM – Fast bowler Mohammad Amir was set to make his World Cup debut on Friday as West Indies won the toss and sent Pakistan into bat in their World Cup match at Trent Bridge.
Amir missed the 2011 and 2015 tournaments due to a spot-fixing ban and was also sidelined in the last four matches of the recent one-day international series against England due to chicken pox.
Pakistan left out experienced batsman Shoaib Malik, playing his last World Cup, and also hard-hitting batsman Asif Ali to go with two frontline spinners and three fast bowlers.
Seam bowler Kemar Roach was left out of the West Indies line-up.
“I don't think the conditions will change much,” said West Indies captain Jason Holder. “Hopefully we can use the overhead conditions to get some early wickets. We've had a good camp and got a lot out of our warm-up games.”
Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed said: “We wanted to bowl first because of the overcast conditions and a bit of moisture, but it will be a good batting pitch.”
Which captain are you backing today?
1) #JasonHolder
2) #SarfarazAhmed #CWC19 #WIvPAK #MenInMaroon #WeHaveWeWill pic.twitter.com/MP49IyRCmX
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) May 31, 2019
The teams are:
Pakistan
Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir
West Indies
Jason Holder (captain), Chris Gayle, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL) and Marais Erasmus (RSA)
TV umpire: Sundaram Ravi (IND)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
At the time of writing, Pakistan was on 50/3 (11th over)