Faf du Plessis says Pakistan ODI team stronger than South Africa

South Africa cricket captain Faf du Plessis, has stated that Pakistan is much stronger limited over team as compared to his side, as the two teams are set to collide in a five-match one-day international series, the first of which will be played in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, 19 January.

"Pakistan is a very good one day side and probably they would be the first to say that from a performance point of view, their one-day team is much stronger," added du Plessis, quoted ESPNcricinfo.  "It will be a nice challenge for us," he said.

Talking about the exclusion of veteran speedster Dale Steyn and wicketkeeper batsman Quinton de Kock, from the first two ODIs, the skipper said that the situation would provide an opportunity ‘to look at what else we need to look at.’

Skipper Faf du Plessis, who is also South Africa's top-ranked player in the ICC ODI Player Rankings for batting, will be keen to get a series victory under his belt ahead of the 2019 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.

Squads

Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed(c), Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik, Usman Khan

South Africa: Faf du Plessis(c), Hashim Amla, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Duanne Olivier