Pakistan Playing XI: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Kamran Ghulam, Agha Salman, Irfan Khan Niazi, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain Australia Playing XI: Matthew Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis (wk), Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Pat Cummins (c), Sean Anthony Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa Preview by Ajay Pal Singh The reigning ODI World champions are back in action as they host Mohammad Rizwan’s men for a three-match ODI series to kick off their summer. Australia will lock horns with Pakistan in the series opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Monday (November 4). Pakistan have revamped their leadership group and this will be Rizwan’s first series as the captain of the Men in Green.
Gary Kirsten has left the coaching job and Jason Gillespie, the coach of Pakistan’s Test team, will continue as the coach even in the white-ball format. Both teams have announced their playing XI a day ahead of the contest and are going with a near full-strength squad. Saim Ayub, after his heroics with the bat in Test and T20Is, gets a debut in the 50-over format for the visitors. Abdullah Shafique will be his opening partner and Babar Azam is back after getting dropped from the Test team. He has a point to prove and would want some runs under his belt. Pakistan have another debutant in the form of Irfan Khan Niazi.
The middle-order batter averages 30 in List-A cricket. The pace attack is packed with four front-line seamers – Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Hasnain. The spin options for Pakistan are Agha Salman and Saim Ayub. For the hosts, explosive openers, Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk, will start the innings. The Victorian pair will open the innings for the first time for Australia. This will be Australia’s sixth opening pair in six matches. They had to chop and change a lot during the England tour. In that series, their squad was marred with injuries and illness. Pat Cummins is back to lead Australia in an ODI for the first time since the ODI World Cup final win in Ahmedabad. Travis Head and T20I captain Mitchell Marsh miss out as they are on paternity leave. Josh Hazlewood is preparing for the first Test by taking part in the coveted Sheffield Sheild match for New South Wales against Queensland. However, the pacer will join the squad ahead of the second ODI in Adelaide. Cooper Connolly just featured for the Australian A side, which is in a two-match red-ball series against India A. He, too, will link up ahead of the second ODI.
On the eve of the series opener, Cummins said “ODI cricket is a high-intensity format and that bowling 10 overs in a game is a great way to start the summer of cricket.” Spin options for the hosts are Matthew Short, Glenn Maxwell, and Marnus Labuschagne. Australia have the highest strike-rate in the first 10 overs in ODIs and their skipper’s message to the new opening pair is to keep going as they have been and go after the bowling. Which team will get off to a winning start at the iconic MCG? To find out, tune in at 8 AM IST & 1:30 PM Local Time for its live coverage. Match Timings: 9 AM IST & 2:30 PM Local Time. Head-to-Head in ODIs 108 – Matches Played 70 – Australia Won 34 – Pakistan Won 3 – No Result 1 – Tie
