Former England captain Michael Vaughan has urged Pakistan to keep their hopes up of progressing to the 2023 World Cup semi-finals. The 48-year-old took to X and provided a complete breakdown of the statistics that Pakistan must follow whether they bat first or 2nd against England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday.
Due to New Zealand's win over Sri Lanka on Thursday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Pakistan have little or no chance of progressing to the semi-finals. Babar Azam's men must defeat England by an astonishing margin of 287 runs and are almost certain to lose if English captain Jos Buttler wins the toss and elects to bat first.
Vaughan took to X (formerly Twitter) and has urged Pakistan not to lose hope:
"We have planned on how to play first 10 overs" - Babar Azam on Pakistan's strategy to achieve a superior net run-rate
Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said in the pre-match press conference on Friday that they will play aggressively, but also take calculated risks.
"We would want to go all guns blazing but it will be done according to a plan. We have planned on how to play first 10 overs, then 20 over and build partnerships. I personally feel if Fakhar Zaman stays on the wicket for 20 or 30 overs, we would be able to achieve it. Then it would be followed up by Rizwan and Iftikhar."
England, meanwhile, also have a lot to play for as they have their 2025 Champions Trophy qualification on the line. The defending champions surged to the 7th spot from 10th in the points table after their 160-run win over the Netherlands.
