Pakistan Cricket Team’s early exit from 50 over icc world cup 2023 in india before semifinals have now announced their 18 member squad for their coming test series with Australia at their home. As we all know Australia have just won the odi world cup, it will be a great challenge for the Pakistani team to beat Australia at their home grounds as they are the true champions in this beautiful game of cricket.
Pakistani Squad includes Shan Masood (Captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam ul Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Rizwan (wk), Muhammad Wasim Junior, Nouman Ali, Saim, Salman Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicket keeper batter), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Afridi
Positive point in this squad is that it is a combination of experience and new talented players. Here are some critical points for the Pakistan cricket team to look at;
New Captain Experiment;
The captain himself (Shan Masood) is a newly appointed captain who has a big task in hand to Lead his country to beat Australia in Australia. Not to forget before Shan Masood, Babar Azam was captain of Pakistan Cricket Team but due to team’s poor performance in icc world cup PCB has asked him to resign from captaincy in all formats.
Babar Azam as a Batsman Only?
As captain would be Shan Masood, so it means Babar Azam would be playing just as a batsman which is good for him in a way that many believed one of the main reason for him not to perform in batting in recent past was extra burden on his shoulders of captaining the side but as of now his focus would be again just on his batting and hopefully he will perform as per fans expectation in this test series against Australia.
New Talent Inclusion; A blessing?
Left handed opening batter Saim Ayub with his successive season in Pakistan’s domestic Quaid Azam Trophy richly deserves the spot in the team. The 22 Year old has scored 553 runs for Karachi whites and had three centuries to his name including match winning double century in final against Faisalabad whereas Right Arm fast bowler Khurram Shahzad was rightly called on due to his successful domestic season. The 23 Year old was highest wicket taker in Quaid Azam Trophy tournament with 36 wickets with average of 20.
Shaheen Shah Afridi will miss his bowling Partners;
Shaheen Shah Afridi with Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf make a lethal pace attack for any opponent side. But as Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf will not be available in this series therefore Pakistan bowling attack would be led by Shaheen Shah Afridi including Muhammad Wasim Jr, Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf.
Schedule for three Test Match Series between Australia vs Pakistan is as under;
1st Test Match – Perth, 14 – 18 December 2023
2nd Test Match – Melbourne, 26 – 30 December 2023
3rd Test Match – Sydney, 3 – 7 January 2024