T20 World Cup 2022: Fakhar Zaman or Shan Masood? Babar Azam opens up on Pakistan's playing XI for IND vs PAK

Pakistan captain Babar Azam is quite confident ahead of the big match in the T20 World Cup 2022 vs India to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23 (Sunday). Babar did not reveal the Pakistan playing 11 for the India match but gave a big hint. Providing an update on the fitness of Shan Masood, Babar have a good news. He said that Masood is fit and his reports have come out good. There is no real cause of concern when it comes to Masood's fitness. Babar went on to use words 'he is fit for tomorrow's match'. That means Masood is playing. 

Babar also said that Fakhar Zaman has not fully recovered from his injury and would take one to two matches in this World Cup before he is declared match fit. That is some bad news for Pakistan fas as Fakhar is among the power hitters at the top of the order for Men in Green.   

"Shan Masood is fit. He is ready for the match tomorrow. Fakhar is not fully recovered. He will take 1 or 2 matches to recover. We can use Shadab at the top. He plays with free mind. Ground are big here, so there won't be many big shots played," said Babar at the pre-match press conference.

Work with focus _

Preparations on track ahead of our first game of the T20 World Cup __#WeHaveWeWill | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/8NemWJL2YA — Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 21, 2022

The Pakistan captain did not reveal his playing 11, saying that they know who all are playing but because he pitch has been under the covers for 2 days now because of rain, the last call will be taken only after having a look at the track tomorrow. Babar added that the middle order muddle is not a problem for them as anyone can come up with a good performance on their day. Experts have argued that Pakistan are heavily dependent on Babar and Mohammad Rizwan as others have failed to live up to the expectations. 

"You will know this on the day. Any player can surprise you on that day. I have belief on my team and my middle order. I back them as captain," said Babar.