2nd Test Day: Sarfraz Ahmed was dropped by Pakistan, and Australia announced an unchanged eleven. With Australia poised to win the series against Pakistan in the forthcoming Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the stakes are quite high. The home team has chosen to stick with the winning lineup from the first Test, starting the same lineup. But by leaving veteran wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed off of their team, Pakistan has made a crucial change.
The Australians’ dominance in the first Test match in Perth was evident in their convincing four-day victory margin of 360 runs, which highlighted the strength of their dangerous pace trio of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Pat Cummins. All three players came out of the match uninjured.
Australia has chosen to leave Scott Boland out of this match despite his remarkable debut against England in 2021 at the MCG, where he scored numbers of 6-7. Boland’s qualities were praised by Captain Pat Cummins, who also assured that he is always available and prepared to help out.
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One potential challenge comes from the weather forecast, which calls for showers and maybe thunderstorms on the first day of play. But there’s hope since it looks like these circumstances will clear by Wednesday afternoon, meaning there will be plenty of game time.
Australian captain Cummins said he was optimistic about the chance of getting a result in spite of the first bad weather. He confirmed that the surface at the MCG looks well, with a fair amount of grass and a different texture from the year before.
Since the Perth Test, injuries have severely damaged Pakistan’s lineup, keeping out important players like fast bowler Khurram Shahzad and spinners Abrar Ahmed and Noman Ali. Pakistan has responded by naming a 12-man team, leaving out speed bowler Faheem Ashraf and captain Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Pakistan’s Mohammad Nawaz will be the wicketkeeper, with Mir Hamza, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Aamer Jamal, a recent arrival, battling it out for the other bowling attack positions.
