Pitch favorable and weather pleasant, Pakistan's first match in Cricket World Cup today
The Netherlands team has won three of their last five matches. Photo: AFP
Pakistan cricket team will play their first match in the World Cup today due to opener Fakhar Zaman's bad form and concerns about off-field conditions.
The toss will decide who will be in Babar's XI against Netherlands.
Pakistan's opening match at the World Cup is usually a tumultuous affair, but there appears to be no chance of spectators flocking to Friday's match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.
The warm reception of the Pakistan cricket team in the city of Hyderabad has led some observers to hope that locals may flock to watch their neighbors play, especially when a batsman like Babar Azam and a bowler like Shaheen Afridi are playing in their city.
Anyway, Pakistan cricket team rarely goes to play India, so maybe some fans will turn to Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.
If we look at the record of the last five one-day international matches of both the cricket teams, both Netherlands and Pakistan have won three matches each.
The last one-day match between the two teams was played in Perth, Australia, where a rising ball from Haris Rauf hit Netherlands batsman Boss The Lead in the face and left him with a gash under his eye.
It rained before the warm-up matches in Hyderabad last week, but today the weather is clear.
In clear weather the pitch conditions will also be pleasant for the batsmen and according to the observers it will be a 'high scoring' match.
During the last two World Cups, Pakistan lost their first match. In this regard, today's match can be interesting.
Captain Babar Azam is 26 runs away from completing his 500 runs in the World Cup.
