SHARJAH: Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first against Afghanistan in the final of the T20I tri-series in Sharjah, just two days ahead of the Asia Cup.
Captain Salman Ali Agha stuck to the winning formula at this venue, where every game in the series so far has been decided in favour of the side batting first.
For the final, Pakistan strengthened their spin department by including left-arm spinner Sufiyan Muqeem in place of fast bowler Salman Mirza.
Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan said the toss would not make much difference to his team. After experimenting with changes in their last match against UAE, Afghanistan returned to the same XI that had defeated Pakistan earlier in the tournament.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (capt), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (capt), Mohammad Nabi, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
