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The Netherlands won the toss and elected to bowl first against Pakistan in the first game of the World Cup for both sides on Friday.
The match is being played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.
Pakistan picked two frontline spinners in Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz alongside fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali.
The Netherlands, the only Associate side in the World Cup, have Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, and Saqib Zulfiqar as their spin options.
Yesterday, team director Mickey Arthur said Pakistan will embrace the ultra-aggressive approach that has worked wonders for some of their World Cup rivals and add their own touch to it.
Speaking in Hyderabad, Arthur said the 1992 champions were good enough to claim a second title with a brand of cricket similar to that played by the likes of England and Australia.
“The players have embraced it. It’s going to take a little bit of time, but I always say there’s always two ways to skin a cat,” Arthur, who was in charge of Pakistan as coach from 2016 to 2019 before returning in April, told reporters.
“Our bowling attack is up there as one of the best and with runs on the board our bowlers can generally defend that. You watch England and Australia playing this brand of cricket. Our guys will follow that.
“There’s no doubt about that. They’re good enough to do that. But we’re playing a brand that we call the Pakistan way. We’re playing a brand that’s very particular to Pakistan and suits our team dynamic.
“That’s a brand that we’re going to hopefully win the World Cup with.”
Arthur hopes his players will have two wins under their belts before they face old rivals India in the eagerly-awaited World Cup blockbuster.
Arthur said his team will, however, be focused on the Netherlands rather than India.
“We’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves,” said Arthur. “First of all, the boys love being in India, which is fantastic.
“The pressure of a World Cup is always massive. But I think our boys are in a really good place.”
Pakistan appointed Arthur in April this year for a second stint, doubling up on his job with Derbyshire in the English county championship.
Meanwhile, Netherlands all-rounder Bas de Leede said his team have done their homework to try and counter star fast bowler Shaheen in their match on Friday.
The Dutch side will face Shaheen for the first time as the left-armer missed Pakistan’s 3-0 ODI series win against them last year with a knee injury.
De Leede hopes his team can negate the threat of Shaheen more successfully than they fared against Australia’s Mitchell Starc, who took a hat-trick in a rained-off warm-up match in Thiruvananthapuram.
“Shaheen has been a focus point for us in our preparation and also our analysis,” De Leede said on the eve of the match.
“So, hopefully we’re going to play him better than we did against Starc the other day.”
Shaheen will partner fellow quick Haris Rauf after 20-year-old Naseem Shah, the third member of Pakistan’s feared pace attack, was ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury.
“Obviously Shaheen and Haris Rauf are two quality pacers, something we don’t face too often is left-arm swing. It was a little bit of a wake-up call for us against Mitchell Starc the other day.”
De Leede said they have a reasonable idea of what to expect from Pakistan.
“Obviously, having played Pakistan last year in Rotterdam in three ODIs, it’ll be nice to sort of be familiar with the team and the players and stuff, having played them before.”
Pakistan team: Fakhar Zaman, Imamul Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.
The Netherlands team: Vikramjit Singh, Max O’Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards, Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt and Paul van Meekeren.