The English summer keeps moving from one exciting series of cricket to another. This time, it will be Babar Azam’s mercurial Pakistan team locking horns against a depleted and refurbished England side. The series gets underway at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff from 8 July. Here’s all the helpful information you’re going to need to make your ENG vs PAK 1st ODI Dream11 team prediction and probable playing XIs for the first ODI.
ENG vs PAK 1st ODI Dream11 prediction
Following a rather hassle-free, clean-sweep series against Sri Lanka, hosts England are now faced with a rather daunting Pakistani challenge. Not only is the current Pakistani lineup poised to play much better on paper- at least when compared to their Sri Lankan counterparts; but the English management will have some really tough decisions ahead of them for picking the playing XI.
The squad boasts of as many as 9-uncapped players, most of whom merited selection courtesy of their performances in the ongoing English T20 Blast. With stand-in captain Ben Stokes being the only player with an experience of over 50+ ODIs, it’s fair to say that the hosts’ lineup will feature a fair number of debutants.
Pakistan, meanwhile, arrives into the series with considerable game-time under their belts. Most of their players featured in the recently concluded second-half of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The tournament enabled several of Pakistan’s ‘fringe’ players to find some much-needed form ahead of the upcoming white-ball contests. Even some of the marquee men-in-green stars looked in a good rhythm.
All in all, Babar Azam’s green-brigade will be raring to assert its dominance against this inexperienced English team. Fair to say, on paper, it looks advantageous: Pakistan at this point.
Probable Playing 11 and Dream11 Teams
England: Zak Crawley, James Vince, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes (c), Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett (wk), Lewis Gregory, Craig Overton, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson, Jake Ball
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(wk), Sohaib Maqsood, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf
Match Details
Date and Time: 8 July 2021 5: 30 PM IST
Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Glamorgan
ALSO READ: Sophia Gardens Cardiff ODI Records Pitch Report for ENG vs PAK match
Key Players for the England vs Pakistan clash
Ben Stokes looked in good form in his appearances for Durham in the T20 Blast series. In a recent clash against Warwickshire, the Southpaw played a crucial inning of 35 while picking up 4/27 with the ball.
22-year-old Surrey all-rounder Will Jacks enjoyed a fine time with the bat in the T20 Blast. He is placed 6th on the leading run-scorers list with 369 runs from 11 games (SR 170.05).
Right-arm-fast-bowler Jake Ball turned in some inspiring performances for Nottinghamshire to make a deserved comeback to the national team. Ball managed to scalp 18-wickets across 9-games at a miserly average of 15.44, placing 3rd on the wicket-takers chart.
Veteran Pakistani batsman Sohaib Maqsood finds himself back on the national side after a five-year break thanks to his fantastic showing in the PSL. Maqsood compiled 428-runs across 12 innings to finish as the tourney’s third-leading run-scorer in Multan’s successful campaign.
Left-arm-quick Shaheen Shah Afridi kept consistent with his fiery reputation in the PSL. In 10 matches, Afridi scalped 16 wickets at an average of 18.25, finishing third on the top bowlers’ list.
Babar Azam was at his consistent best for the Karachi Kings in his team’s fourth-place finish in the league. The Pakistan captain topped the run-scorers chart with 554 runs from 11-games.