Kusal Perera, Sri Lanka, injury, Pakistan, ICC Champions Trophy 2017
A hamstring injury means Kusal Perera will not be a part of the playing XI against PakistanReuters

After the first virtual quarterfinal was won by India, it is onto the second, with Sri Lanka and Pakistan the team battling it out for the final remaining place in the semifinals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka have momentum on their side, after fantastic wins over South Africa and India respectively, so this game will be about which team can keep that quality going for a second straight game.

Considering how well both these teams did in their last matches, it is safe to say they won't look to make too many changes to their playing XI, apart from the enforced ones, of course.

Sri Lanka are the team that will need to make at least one change, with Kusal Perera ruled out of the rest of the Champions Trophy 2017 with a hamstring injury. Perera, while playing a nice innings in the successful chase against India, was forced to retire hurt after injuring his hamstring, and that problem has now ended his tournament.

Dhananjaya De Silva has been named as Perera's replacement, and it is quite likely that the former will be pushed right into the playing XI.

With Upul Tharanga serving the second of his two-match ban for a slow over rate in this game against Pakistan, Sri Lanka have little option but to draft De Silva straight into the team.

Considering how well that worked when Danushka Gunathilaka came in and struck a match-winning half-century against India, maybe that isn't such a bad thing.

Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan, Group B, Sri Lanka, CT 2017
The experience of Mohammad Hafeez could prove to be vital against Sri LankaReuters

Pakistan were quite outstanding with the ball against South Africa, with Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali showing some good intent with pace, while the spinners tangled the Proteas batsmen up brilliantly.

Now, Sri Lanka, obviously, won't struggle as much as South Africa did against spin, which means Mohammad Hafeez is not expected to bowl as much as he did in the last game.

Could that mean Hafeez making way for the Faheem Ashraf?

Ashraf provides Pakistan the lower order hitting they lack at the moment, while he is also a really good pace bowling option. With Hafeez having done very little with the bat so far in this tournament, that might not be a bad option.

However, what also needs to be taken into consideration is that this is pretty much a knockout game, and when the pressure is so high, experience usually trumps potential.

So, if Ashraf is to come into the playing XI, it could be at the expense of Shadab Khan, the leg-spinner.

Confirmed playing XI:

Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (C), Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan.

 

Sri Lanka: Niroshan Dickwella, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews (C), Asela Gunaratne, Dhananjaya De Silva, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep.