Pakistan Test captain, Shan Masood, has highlighted six Pakistan players to keep an eye on in the upcoming three-match Test series against Australia set to commence on December 14th in Perth.
In a press conference following the trophy ceremony for the upcoming four-day match against PM-XI, Masood expressed confidence in the versatility and capabilities of these players, emphasizing their potential to pose unique challenges to the Australian batters.
“We have got six other guys with Shaheen, each posing a different kind of threat for batsmen. We have got two top first-class performers like Mir Hamza who is a left-arm bowler, he has also played some county cricket, played a couple of Test matches. We have got Khurram Shehzad who was the highest wicket-taker in our domestic season. We thought we could utilize somebody like Mohammad Wasim Jr, who can add a bit of pace if the ball does reverse. He can be handy at the SCG it will be quite handy,” Masood said.
Expanding the array of choices available, the left-hand batter also noted two all-rounders, emphasizing their noteworthy pace and capability to make significant contributions with the bat.
“Aamer Jamal is an all-rounder that we are keeping an eye on he, works with good pace hammers a good length that might be useful here and we are hoping Faheem Ashraf grows into this role and provide us something with the bat and something good with the ball so we have quite a lot of options and hopefully we will see what we bring out tomorrow and that might reflect what we might go in the Test match,” he concluded.
Pakistan squad for Australia Tests: Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
Australia squad: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Cameron Green, Lance Morris
Australia tour schedule:
- Four-day match: PM’s XI vs Pakistan – December 6-9: Manuka Oval, Canberra
- 1st Test – Australia vs Pakistan – December 14-18: Perth Stadium
- 2nd Test – Australia vs Pakistan – December 26-30: Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
- 3rd Test – Australia vs Pakistan – January 3-7: Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)
