Pakistan look to prove a point in Boxing Day Test
Pakistan are all set to play the second Test of the three-match series against Australia and their 11th Test match at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Shan Masood-led outfit will be eager to prove a point with the series still up for grabs.
Pakistan played a two-day practice match against Victoria XI, from 22-23 December, to fine-tune their preparations. The two-day game played at Junction Oval, which ended as a draw, provided the Pakistan batters and bowlers much-needed match practice.
The series opener at Perth saw Pakistan face defeat by 360 runs, but the silver lining for the visitors was the performance of the two debutants, Aamir Jamal and Khurram Shahzad, who picked up seven and five wickets respectively in the match. Aamir will be looking to build up on his brilliant performance as he registered the sixth-best bowling figures for a Pakistan player on debut with his 6-111.
Meanwhile, Khurram has been ruled out of the Test series due to a stress fracture while Abrar Ahmed remains unavailable for selection for the MCG Test.
Off-spinner Sajid Khan, who flew in as the back-up spinner for Abrar, has been added to Pakistan’s 12-man squad for the MCG Test along with Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza. Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan will replace Sarfaraz Ahmed behind the stumps. The final XI will be unveiled on match day.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood, talking about the team composition for the second Test, said, “I believe in making less changes in the team after a loss to maintain stability but you have to make a few tactical decisions and then unfortunately we had injury concerns as well.
“Khurram not being available due to injury is such a loss. We’ve brought in Mir Hamza in his place, who has done equally well in the domestic circuit. We think he can emulate Khurram’s control and consistent lengths.”
