First Test: Pakistan opt to bat against Australia

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 04 Jan 2023

Pakistan have won the toss and Babar Azam has decided to bat first against Pat Cummins’ Australia in the first Test being played in Rawalpindi.

“The pitch looks nice so we’ll try to put runs on the board,” Babar said during the toss. He thinks the spinners may come into play. “I’m also a spinner,” he adds with a smile.

Playing XIs

This is the firs time since 1998. the Aussies are playing in Pakistan.

Both sides feature world-class performers that have made their names across formats around the world.

For Pakistan Babar Azam, Fawad Alam and Mohammad Rizwan are going to shoulder batting responsibilities while Australia possess batters like Steve Smith, David Warner, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali and Sajid Khan are going to provide real ammunition to Pakistan’s varied bowling attack while Australia have in their ranks some of the best current bowlers like Cummins, Mitchel Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Nathan Lyon.

The two sides have kept a close eye on the Rawalpindi pitch which has a tradition of being a sporting one, the last Test played at the venue was Pakistan’s 95-run triumph against South Africa almost a year ago.