Second Pakistan, Australia Test starts in Abu Dhabi today
The first Test of the two-match series between the two sides Dubai ended in a draw.
ABU DHABI (Dunya News) – The second and final Test between Pakistan and Australia will start in Abu Dhabi today (Tuesday). The first Test between the two sides Dubai ended in a draw.
Pakistan have been forced into making some changes after opener Imam-ul-Haq fractured his finger in Dubai. He will be replaced by Fakhar Zaman for his first Test.
There will almost certainly be another debutant in left-arm quick Mir Hamza, after fellow left-armer Wahab Riaz was omitted from the 12 after finding neither rhythm nor wickets in Dubai. Hamza has prodigious domestic record, racking up an eye-watering 26 five-wicket hauls in 56 first-class matches, at a rude average of 17.
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has dispelled any fear of losing. "There is nothing like that (fear) and you would see that with the way we played the first Test. Throughout we played good cricket but unfortunately we couldn’t get across the line," Ahmed said.
"The team morale is high, batsmen have scored runs and bowlers have also taken wickets so we are very much hopeful of performing well to win the series."
Pakistan s only series loss in United Arab Emirates -- their neutral venue since attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009 forced them to play here -- was last year. They lost to Sri Lanka 2-0, their first series loss in 10 attempts.
Australian skipper Tim Paine vowed his team would do its utmost to win the second Test against Pakistan starting in Abu Dhabi from Tuesday for a first series win in Asia since 2011.
The trying conditions of the pitches and hot weather have stopped Australia from winning a series since they beat Sri Lanka 1-0 in 2011. Since then they have lost 4-0 in India (2013), 2-0 in United Arab Emirates to Pakistan (2014), 3-0 in Sri Lanka (2016), 2-1 in India (2017) and drew 1-1 in Bangladesh last year.
But Paine s side snatched a morale-boosting draw on the fifth and final day in the first Test in Dubai, the skipper and number 10 Nathan Lyon seeing out the final 12.2 overs after being set a daunting target of 462 runs.
"We want to win every series we are involved in," Paine said Monday. "We are focusing on what we do and if we can do well for five days then we have a really good chance of winning it.
Teams:
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (capt), Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail,Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Bilal Asif, Mohammad Abbas, Mir Hamza.
Australia: Tim Paine (capt), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc.
Umpires: Sundaram Ravi (IND) and Richard illingworth (ENG).
TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough(ENG).
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).
