Pakistan wants to finish the series well as they prepare for the SCG Test. Australia and Pakistan will square off in the last Benaud-Qadir Trophy match at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on January 3–7.
Australia won the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, giving them an unbeatable lead, and now Pakistan will be trying to prevent a rout at their hands.
Pakistan put up a valiant fight in Melbourne following their 360-run loss in Perth during the first day of the series, but Australia emerged victorious on the final day of play.
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Shan is top of Pakistan’s run-scoring chart ahead of the series finale, having hit two half-centuries in the Boxing Day Test. After making his debut in the first game of the series, Aamir Jamal has taken the second-most wickets thus far. In two games, he has claimed 12 wickets, including a five-wicket haul.
Saim Ayub, the opening batsman, will be starting his first Test match in lieu of Imam-ul-Haq. Saim had an outstanding domestic season and had earned his first Test call-up.
Spinner Sajid Khan has taken Shaheen Shah Afridi’s place in the side, as the left-arm pacer has been rested.
Pakistan intends to stick with the three modifications made prior to the MCG test. In Melbourne, Mir Hamza, who entered the playing XI in lieu of an injured Khurram Shahzad, achieved his best-ever statistics.
Throughout the game, he claimed six wickets, including a double-wicket maiden in Australia’s second innings. Both Hasan Ali and Mohammad Rizwan, who came in for Sarfaraz Ahmed and Faheem Ashraf at MCG, respectively, have maintained their spots in the squad.
During the pre-match press conference, Pakistani captain Shan Masood said, “We have learned from the mistakes we made in the first two matches.” Moving forward, it’s important to avoid making the same mistakes, particularly when playing against elite teams. We will win a lot of Test matches in the future if we continue to play this way.
