Pakistan win toss, decide to bat first against Australia
Cricket
Opener Saim Ayub is making Test debut for Pakistan in the Sydney Test.
SYDNEY (Dunya News) - Pakistan have won the toss and decided to bat first in the third and final Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Wednesday.
Australia have won the series 2-0 after a thrilling win in Melbourne. But there's plenty of interest in this game as David Warner bids farewell to Test cricket.
Saim Ayub is making Test debut for Pakistan. Pakistan's stand in high performance coach, has thrown a lot of balls to Ayub on this tour and he mentioned in Melbourne that he has been very impressed by his talent.
Speaking after the toss ceremony, Shan Masood said: "Just how things are done at the SCG. Hopefully we can put in a good first innings score and then see how it plays. Very excited about Saim Ayub. We feel that he's one batter that's going to set the tone for Pakistan in terms of the batting unit going ahead. It looks pretty dry underneath the grass, so we might expect after day three for the pitch to be variable in terms of bounce. It might take a bit of spin, that's why we included Sajid Khan as well. Unfortunately Shaheen is resting."
Australian captain Pat Cummins said: "Looks like a good wicket. The sun is out today. But that's fine. It's a short turnaround but everyone is in a good space and happy with how everyone is going. It's rare to play the same team three games in a row but it's nice."
Squad:
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (capt), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Sajid Khan, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamer Jamal
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
