Pakistan could make some changes to their playing 11 ahead of the final Test against Australia in Sydney. After losing the second Test thanks to Cummins’ brilliant 10-wicket haul, Pakistan will continue to wait for a Test win in Australia.
Pakistan has lost 16 successive Tests in Australia and the last was back in 1995-96 under the leadership of the legendary pacer, Wasim Akram. The Pakistani side will look to emulate the old days as they will aim to put an end to this losing streak.
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To facilitate this, a PTI report has suggested that, “The Pakistan team are expected to field the 21-year-old uncapped opener Saim Ayub in the third and final Test against Australia.” The uncapped batter has played only 14 first-class matches representing Karachi but has a fantastic record averaging 46.47 while scoring three fifties and three centuries so far.
The report also suggested that the Pakistan team management would take a chance on Saim Ayub after Imam-ul-Haq’s “slow batting has come under criticism in the Pakistan cricket circles.”
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Pakistan are also awaiting the status of their young mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed who has picked up some discomfort in his leg and has not regained full fitness.
However, Pakistan have a plan in place after assessing the extent of Abrar’s recovery, if he is not cleared for the final Test then the young off-spinner Sajid Khan would make his way into the playing eleven where he would place Hasan Ali.
Ali has not been as impactful when you look at his experience in comparison to someone like Mir Hamza who was able to join forces with Shaheen in the second innings of the previous Test where the duo managed to take a four-wicket haul each and give Pakistan a target that they could chase.
Even someone like Aamer Jamal had a significant contribution to give when his three wickets in the first innings where he got Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith and Pat Cummins.
While Pakistan aim to break their winless streak in Australia, the Test in Sydney will be more special for David Warner who will look to fight back in his final Test before retiring from the longest format.
Pakistan Squad vs Australia: Shan Masood (c), Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Imam-u-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Aamer Jamal, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Sajid Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Noman Ali
(with agency inputs)
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