A little worried about the line-up that Pakistan will support against the major sides. Its all well and good having a bits and pieces team against Zim because they're a depleted side themselves - but there will be no mercy when playing against India, Bangladesh and even Afghanistan later in the year.
Current XI:
1. Fakhar Zaman
2. Imam-ul-Haq
3. Babar Azam
4. Sarfaraz Ahmed (c) (wk)
5. Shoaib Malik
6. Asif Ali
7. Faheem Ashraf
8. Shadab Khan
9. Hasan Ali
10. Mohammad Amir
11. Usman Khan
The biggest worry with this line-up is that (a) Imam doesn't seem ready for quality sides yet. All the games so far he has started slowly with multiple maidens early on. I don't want him to add more pressure on Fakhar Zaman. But we don't really have anyone else at the top to support Fakhar (b) Our tail is way too long. After Shoaib Malik we come to an inexperienced tail. Asif Ali, although he has been decent so far, has no domestic record to support his talent and even in the PSL he was a little hit and miss. Better sides wouldn't pitch it up as often as Zimbabwe did to him and he clearly isn't interested in picking up quick twos. (c) Faheem and Shadab may be quality prospects but they're batting is a little worrying for the finishing role.
My advice would be to either - bring in an extra batsman (maybe even Hafeez because he has a stellar record in the UAE and the ball doesn't swing much at all) and play him just after Shoaib Malik instead of a third seamer (Amir being the weaker in the cohort at the moment). We don't need four-seamers in a line-up especially when the Asia Cup will be played on dusty wickets.
OR Bring Sarfaraz to his 6th slot and bring in the likes of Haris Sohail at 4.
Note: Plus Imad Wasim might come back in the near future after his concussion in the Karachi Kings. Would putting him in the lower order with the knowledge that he is a much better batsman be a better solution for Pakistan?
My Line-up for Pakistan in the Asia Cup:
1. Fakhar Zaman
2. Imam-ul-Haq
3. Babar Azam
4. Mohammad Hafeez
5. Sarfaraz Ahmed (c) (wk)
6. Shoaib Malik
7. Asif Ali
8. Shadab Khan
9. Faheem Ashraf
10. Hasan Ali
11. Usman Khan Shinwari / Mohammad Amir
Subs: Haris Sohail/ Junaid Khan/ Hussain Talat
Two quality seamers, Faheem Ashraf in the middle overs, Hafeez to throttle the batting and get an economical 7-10 overs, Shadab for some attacking leg spin and Malik as the 6th option with Fakhar to roll his arm if needed. Finally, our batting is more potent and longer than before. Going all the way down to 10 (Hasan Ali has a half-century against NZ in ODI's). The perfect blend of experience, youth and an attacking team with a finisher in Asif Ali and Malik.