Pakistan Opts to Bowl in Second Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Pakistan hasn’t done well in Australia. They lost 15 consecutive Tests, and their last win was in 1995.
MELBOURNE- In the second Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Pakistan’s captain Shan Masood won the toss and chose to bowl on Tuesday.
The team hosting the match wants to win the three-Test series. They beat the visitors by 360 runs in Perth and will play with the same team in the upcoming game.
Pakistan chose Mohammad Nawaz to be the wicketkeeper instead of Sarfaraz Ahmed. Fast bowlers Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali are also playing, even though they were not selected for the first Test.
They are replacing Khurram Shahzad, who is injured, and Faheem Ashraf, who was removed from the team.
This means the team will rely on fast bowlers, led by the experienced Shaheen Shah Afridi and the impressive newcomer Aamer Jamal, and there won’t be a specialist spinner in the lineup.
Masood explained that he decided to bowl after considering the MCG pitch’s performance in recent years. He mentioned that the bowling side has performed well, and there has been some weather influence as well.
After a lot of rain on Christmas Day, the weather cleared up on Tuesday, but there’s a chance of afternoon showers according to the forecast.
Australia’s captain, Pat Cummins, mentioned that he would have also chosen to bowl.
“We all recovered well after Perth. Luckily, everyone is in good shape,” he explained when asked about keeping the team unchanged.
Pakistan hasn’t done well in Australia, losing 15 consecutive Tests, and their last win was in 1995.
Teams
Australia
- David Warner
- Usman Khawaja
- Marnus Labuschagne
- Steve Smith
- Travis Head
- Mitchell Marsh
- Alex Carey
- Pat Cummins (captain)
- Mitchell Starc
- Nathan Lyon
- Josh Hazlewood
Pakistan
- Imam-ul-Haq
- Abdullah Shafique
- Shan Masood (captain)
- Babar Azam
- Saud Shakeel
- Mohammad Rizwan
- Agha Salman
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Hasan Ali
- Mir Hamza
- Aamer Jamal
Umpires- Michael Gough (ENG), Joel Wilson (WIS)
TV umpire- Richard Illingworth (ENG)
Match referee- Javagal Srinath (IND)
