PAK vs ENG, T20 World Cup 2022: The big time is here, the all-important finals that will be played at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground). Fans and cricket pundits all over the globe were expecting an India-Pakistan final, but this was not how things were meant to be. Pakistan have registered a historic comeback, they were down and out very early in the tournament, but now they find themselves in the all-important finals against a mighty England who just shattered India and their dreams of winning the World Cup for the 2nd time.
There certainly were serious questions posed to England and how they were looking to go about things in the ongoing World Cup. They were without their spearhead Mark Wood and their number 3 Dawid Malan, but Alex Hales and their skipper Jos Buttler lived up to the occasion and brushed India aside. Jos Buttler in particular has had a lot to do in the current year. After an extremely successful IPL season, Buttler was bestowed with the captaincy duties of England. Since then he has had quite a tough time dealing with various things, especially with his batting, but slowly and steadily, he has lived up to the stage and has finally delivered.
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Against Pakistan, things certainly wouldn't be that easy for the English captain. He will be up against one of Pakistan's main man, Shadab Khan. No doubt about the fact that Khan has been a prolific all-rounder for Babar Azam's team and he has continued to feature in almost every T20 game that they have faced. If Shadab and Buttler's stats are to be compared side-by-side, one can certainly spot the difficulties that Buttler has been facing against him. The English skipper has faced 21 deliveries from Shadab and has scored just 21 runs and has been dismissed 2 times. The beauty of numbers is that they speak the truth, but can also change at any given time. Both Pakistan and England are in contention to win the World Cup for the second time and it will be interesting to see the plans both these teams opt for.
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SQUADS
England: Jos Buttler(w/c), Alex Hales, Philip Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Tymal Mills, Mark Wood, Dawid Malan
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Haider Ali, Asif Ali
