Why is Hasan Ali not playing ICC World Cup 2023, match 44 against England?

Defending champions England and former champions Pakistan will square off at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, November 11 in the penultimate league-stage encounter of the ODI World Cup 2023.

At the toss, Pakistan captain Babar Azam announced that all-rounder Shadab Khan will be replacing Hasan Ali in the playing XI. Meanwhile, England opted to stick to the same team that defeated the Netherlands in their last game and ended a five-match losing streak.

England have already been ousted from the tournament after a bulk of their players failed to play anywhere near their full potential. On the other hand, Pakistan are all but out of the tournament as it would be a massive understatement to say that they need a miraculous win against Jos Buttler and Co. to progress to the semi-finals.

What did the captains say at the toss?

Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat first. This decision almost guaranteed Pakistan's exit from the ODI World Cup 2023. To put things into perspective, if England get bowled out for 100, Pakistan will have to chase it within 2.5 overs. Buttler reckoned that the wicket looked a bit on the drier side and wanted to make first use of it. He also lauded David Willey, who is set to retire from international cricket after playing this game. Pakistan captain Babar Azam, on the other hand, said that he would have batted first had he won the toss. The talismanic batter backed his bowlers to dismiss England out cheaply.

Jos Buttler: We gonna bat first. Looks a good wicket, looks a bit dry and we want to make first use of it. We are going with the same team today. It's always good to break a losing streak. We would look to try and do justice to ourselves. (On David Willey) Emotional day for him, he has been great for us. So, we talked about trying to enjoy it and take it all in.

Babar Azam: We wanted to bat first, but toss is not in our hands. We have good bowlers and we would look to bowl them out cheaply. We have one change - Hasan Ali is not playing and Shadab Khan comes in his place. We are looking forward to Fakhar's batting. We will try our best.

Also Check: ODI World Cup 2023 Points Table

England (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (WK/C), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid

Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf