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Recent form
(last five matches, most recent first)
Pakistan DWWWL
Australia DWDWW
In the spotlight
Hasan Ali is expected to come back into Pakistan's line-up after missing the opening match with an abductor strain. It would mean the reunion of the pairing with Shaheen; the duo has claimed 88 Test wickets during 2021, of which Hasan took 41 at 16.07 in just eight outings. Hasan is a skiddy quick bowler who has not faced Australia before in Tests, so it will be a new challenge for the top order.
After a long wait,
Mitchell Swepson will make his Test debut. "I think it's quite special that someone like Mitchell Swepson is going to debut tomorrow as a legspinner who grew up trying to replicate Warnie," Pat Cummins said at the end of what has been an emotional week for the game. The last specialist legspinner to debut for Australia was Bryce McGain 2009, or Steven Smith in 2010 if you consider his response on social media. Swepson will hope for a longer stay than McGain's lone outing; Smith will likely be stood at slip; his career having gone in another direction.
Team news
Faheem Ashraf's negative Covid test the day after he was positive is a huge boost for Pakistan, and it also means they will be able to balance their side with a seam-bowling allrounder at No. 7. The other change that is likely to happen is Hasan replacing Naseem Shah.
Pakistan (probable)
1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Babar Azam (capt), 5 Fawad Alam, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Faheem Ashraf, 8 Nauman Ali, 9 Sajid Khan, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi
Cummins confirmed Australia's XI with Swepson handed a debut and that he is replacing Josh Hazlewood. This means Mitchell Starc's left-arm angle is retained.
Australia
1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Mitchell Swepson, 11 Nathan Lyon
Pitch and conditions
Surely, this one won't be as flat? Both captains expected the wicket to be of more help for the spinners as the match developed, while Cummins thought reverse swing could be a factor, perhaps, from quite early in the contest given the well-worn square. There won't be any problems with the weather this time, it's forecast to be warm and sunny throughout.
Stats and trivia
- Fawad Alam, who did not bat or bowl in Rawalpindi, and dropped a catch, needs 47 runs to reach 1000 in Tests
- Nathan Lyon now averages 65.18 against Pakistan away from home (four games in UAE, one in Pakistan). His next highest overseas average is 39.75 in South Africa.
Quotes
"We didn't get as many wickets as we would have liked but never let the run rate slip, on past tours of the subcontinent we have. We never lost control of the game. As a Test match, it's an absolute outlier, so put it behind us and come here where we'll probably get closer to the conditions, we would expect in a subcontinent Test."
Pat Cummins
"We're not frightened of Australia. The conditions are the same for both teams. The WTC points are very crucial. As a captain, I wanted us to win. The way our side dominated, and our batters scored 150+ and got wickets... So there's nothing to panic about. We dominated."
Babar Azam
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