Published: Dec 08, 2016, 07:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Dec 08, 2016, 03:57 PM (IST)
Hello and Welcome to Cricket Country’s coverage of Day 1 of Pakistan’s tour match against Cricket Australia XI at Cairns. This will be a pink ball match as a preparation for the first Test between Australia and Pakistan at Brisbane – a day-night Test, which will begin from December 15. Pakistran have played just one day-night Test, which was against the West Indies in UAE a month or so back and they emerged victorious. Australia on the other hand have played two day-night Tests – against New Zealand and South Africa – both of which they have won. Misbah-ul-Haq returns to lead Pakistan in this match, whereas Cricket Australia XI will be led by 23-year-old William Bosisto.
Pakistan suffered a 2-0 whitewash against New Zealand in the previous series after some poor performances, especially in the second Test that saw them collapse in the final session of the match. They will look to bounce back in this series. Misbah missed the second Test as he had flown back home after his Father-in-Law had passed away. His leadership will be pivotal in this series. As far as the Pakistan squad is concerned, they have retained the same squad they picked for the New Zealand series. Yasir Shah will not play this warm-up match due to injury, but is expected to be fit in time for the first Test.
Australia, despite losing the series against South Africa, won the final Test against them. They picked a new-look side for that game and it paid off. Australia will have all the confidence they need going into this series, having done well in the ODI fixtures against New Zealand as well.
Squads:
Pakistan: Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Imran Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Rahat Ali, Sami Aslam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Sharjeel Khan, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Younis Khan
Cricket Australia XI: William Bosisto (c), Jake Carder, Alex Gregory, Josh Inglis, Ryan Lees, Arjun Nair, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Matthew Short, Mark Steketee, Cameron Valente, Cameron Wheatley, Jake Winter
