Follow UsPakistan will be without Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah, with only Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali as the two experienced options in the pace department. Mir Hamza, Khurram Shahzad, Faheem Ashraf, and Aamer Jamal could all be fighting for two other spots in the pace department, with the conditions going to be heavily in favour of the pacers.
However, Pakistan’s new Test skipper Shan Masood was tight-lipped on the makeup of Pakistan’s XI for the opening Test on December 14 (Thursday). Masood, who spoke to the media after the conclusion of the second day of the four-day clash between Pakistan and Prime Minister XI said that the clash is an open audition for all the new pacers.
"We'll only be able to decide when we get closer to the game, see the pitch, see the conditions, see where the guys are at with their fitness and their loads," captain Shan Masood opened up on the make up of the side for the opening Test against Australia.
"You have to look at the opposition as well, match-ups, or type of bowling, is huge in cricket now."
While stating that, Masood confirmed that Shaheen and Hasan would lead the bowling unit, but who makes it to the XI apart from the duo is a big question. On a placid surface, Khurram Shahzad troubled the Australian batters a bit and also took the prized scalp of Marcus Harris, who was on course to score a half-century.
"Obviously Shaheen and Hasan are senior bowlers, they are probably penciled in, but you want to look at everyone and give them a fair run before you make that ultimate decision. The permutations on the structure if the side matters as well - do we go with an allrounder, what will the role of the spinner be? So there are a lot of things we are looking at and we are very glad we are playing a fixture like this,” he added.
The last time Pakistan toured Australia was back in 2019, when Yasir Shah was an integral part of the bowling unit. Shah had a forgettable series, averaging 100.50. But this time around, Masood was much more confident about spin making an impact, calling Abrar Ahmed a key player for the visitors in the three-match Test series.
"Spinners are crucial and we've seen that with the Australian team, how good Nathan Lyon has been for a number of years," Masood said. "So a spinner plays an important role, he's very complimentary to the fast bowlers in these conditions. Abrar has done really well for us, he's taken a lot of wickets against good sides and we'll be hoping he does the same on this tour."