Pakistan is being termed as the mercurial side in the world of cricket, and so they proved to be every now and then.
The team from the sub-continent does only have the ability to surprise their fans, but it seems like on some days, they even surprise themselves.
The Men in Green has had a horrid time in the one-day internationals after an impressive campaign during the 2011 World Cup.
It took the Green Caps more than five years to find their mojo in the ODIs and their revival began after wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed was appointed as the captain of the side.
Since then, the team has shown great improvement and managed to win series against West Indies, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
Not only that as the Men in Green also went on to register their most prominent success in the 50-over cricket since 1992 when they defeated arch-rivals India to lift their first-ever International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in 2017.
In their last assignment in the ODIs, Pakistan registered a thumping 5-0 win against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe.
Pakistan's record in the Asia Cup is not as impressive as they've only managed to lift the title two times in 12 editions.
The Men in Green are placed in Group A in the upcoming tournament alongside Hong Kong and India. Their first match will be against the minnows on September 16, whereas their big match against the arch-rivals is on September 19.
Batting
In the batting department, the team will be relying on the likes of left-handed opener Fakhar Zaman, right-handed batsman Babar Azam and veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik.
Zaman had an outstanding beginning to his career ever since making his debut and is team's leading run-scorer since then with 1,065 runs.
He is also the team's leading run-scorer in the year 2018 with 665. Not only that, Zaman became the first Pakistan batsman to score 200 runs in an innings in the 50-over format recently as well.
On the other hand, Malik has also been in inspiring form ever since returning to the team in 2015 and has already scored 1,525 runs at an impressive average of 47.65.
Azam, on the other hand, has been Pakistan's most prolific scorer since his arrival in the team. Since the beginning of 2017, Azam is the team's leading run-scorer with 1,087 in 26 innings with the help of five centuries and two half-centuries.
It will be interesting to see what kind of role captain Sarfraz will have in the batting order during the tournament as he only had 14 innings since January 1, 2017.
Bowling
In the bowling department, the team will be relying on the pace-attack consist of Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali and Usman Khan Shinwari.
Out of the three, Ali by far had the best time since the beginning of 2017 as he is the team's leading wicket-taker in ODIs with 57 scalps in 25 matches, 24 more than any other bowler in the team during the same span of time.
Amir had a difficult time as he claimed 21 wickets in 19 matches, whereas Shinwari is slowly, but surely, cementing his place in the team after claiming 15 wickets in just six matches.
Players to watch
Fakhar Zaman
Shoaib Malik
Hasan Ali
