Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik provide experience in the batting line-up, whilst Wahab Riaz will lead a young seam attack.
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He has scored 7240 runs in 264 ODI matches.
The spotlight during the series will be on the veteran batsman, who was recalled to Pakistan’s ODI line-up despite opposition from head coach Waqar Younis. “I am disappointed at not only his decision to retire from ODIs but also the timing of his decision”, said Khan.
“As a batsman I played a positive role in the team’s wins in one-day cricket and now I realise that it’s time to keep myself away from limited overs cricket”. He received a guard of honour from his teammates and Azhar Ali, the captain, even announced Pakistan that would do their best to produce a win for him.
The two sides have so far played nine ODIs in UAE against each other, of which England won seven while Pakistan just secured victory in two ODIs.
To their credit, England have shown remarkable progress after being the only top side not to reach the 2015 World Cup quarter-finals. “His commitment level is great”, the Pakistani captain said. You can also watch the Pakistan vs England 1st ODI online on the official website of Ten Sports and PTV Sports (Pakistan viewers).
There are, of course, the rankings to bind all this together and, despite their improvements, sixth-placed England are actually being steadily reeled in by Bangladesh, in No. 7. Pakistan again made 354 to set a heft target for the English players which they failed to chase and lost the match by 178 runs.
Morgan’s health has been a source of concern since he suffered concussion in his previous appearance but, when it comes to the more prosaic business of playing form, Jos Buttler is the focus of attention. Pakistan are ranked second in Tests but find themselves in eighth in the ODI rankings. “I am new as captain, so I hope this team will settle”.
Pakistan were poised to start their reply at the time of publication.
England had bungled their opportunity, the ease with which both Morgan and Taylor had batted indicating they were falling well short of a competitive score – all the more so when Moeen Ali fell to a brilliant one-handed catch at midwicket by Babar Azam, from a vicious pull at Yasir Shah.
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England will stay true to the template they laid down in the summer, though a precise repetition will demand quicker surfaces than were seen in the recent Test series.
