Pakistan appointed pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi as vice-captain of the national squad for the three-match Test series against Australia beginning tomorrow (December 14).
After the announcement of the playing XI for the first fixture of the Benaud Qadir Trophy, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced Shaheen’s appointment as vice-captain.
He has recently been appointed captain of the national T20 cricket squad. For the national team, he has played 27 tests, 53 one-day internationals, and 52 twenty-twenty internationals.
Shan Masood will lead the national team in an international game for the first time since Babar Azam was removed from all three formats of cricket.
The batting line-up will be strengthened by Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, and Sarfaraz Ahmed. All-rounders Salman Ali Agha and Faheem Ashraf are also expected to perform in the tough Australian conditions.
Aamir Jamal and Khurram Shahzad, who will make their Test debuts for Pakistan in the first Test, will contribute immensely to the bowling line-up of Pakistan.
The fact that Pakistan has not won a test on Australian soil since 1995 should be mentioned here. Over the last five series, Pakistan has lost 26 matches and won just four in and against Australia. In the last five series, Pakistan has been swept by Australia.
In recent weeks, the Australian cricket team has shown impressive form, having shocked India in the ODI World Cup final last month to leave the nation of over 1.4 billion in complete shock.
As opposed to Australia, the Pakistani cricket team is in disarray and chaos. We have seen our cricket deteriorate due to poor results and administrative issues.
In Shan’s first assignment, he led his team in Australia, a tour where legendary captains Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, and Misbah-ul-Haq failed miserably.
The Pakistani national team
In addition to Shan Masood (captain), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Aamir Jamal, and Khurram Shahzad.
The Australian national team
The team consists of Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, and David Warner.
Schedule of the test series;
Test one: December 14-18, Perth Stadium,
Second Test: December 26-30, MCG.
Third test: on January 3-7 at SCG.
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