Australia’s defence of their World Test Championship begin on 14th December 2023. Australia will face off against Pakistan in a 3 Match Test Series. The first Test, at Perth begins on Thursday, 14th December 2023. Both sides have got a full strength side and both would want to win. Following is the Pakistan vs Australia Preview of First Test.
Pakistan vs Australia Today Match Preview
Perth is known as a heaven for the fast bowlers. The weather will be hot and the pitch is expected to be as green as it could get. The track will be bouncy and will have a lot to offer for the pacers. Both sides are packed with good pacers. Pakistan will also be going with 4 pace options and they will be without a specialist spinner because they might not need one.
Pakistan are currently at the top of table in World Test Championship 2023-25. They have won both of their matches in this cycle of the WTC. Australia on the other hand lag behind at 5 with 2 wins, 2 defeats and a draw. Australia cannot afford to lose more points.
Meanwhile, the home advantage lies with the Aussies. Pakistan is always vulnerable in Australia. It’s been nearly 3 decades that Pakistan have never won a Test Match in Australia. They have a relatively inexperienced side as compared to Australia’s and they also have a new captain.
So, Australia with better pacers and more experience will surely begin as favorites. However, Shan Masood has promised that we will see a different approach from Pakistan in Tests now. So maybe, Shan’s leadership and new ideas might give Pakistan an upper hand and they might finally end the Test victory drought in Australia.
Pakistan Confirmed Lineup
Pakistan announced their lineup prior to the game. They have 2 debutants, Aamer Jamal and Khurram Shahzad. Both the players have good First Class performances in recent times.
Probable XI: 1 Abdullah Shafique 2 Imam-ul-Haq 3 Shan Masood (C) 4 Babar Azam 5 Saud Shakeel 6 Sarfaraz Ahmed (WK) 7 Salman Ali Agha 8 Aamer Jamal 9 Faheem Ashraf 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi 11 Khurram Shahzad
Australia Expected Lineup
Australia also named their playing XI prior to the game. Their combination has a good mix of 3 regular pacers, one part-time option (Mitch Marsh) and a specialist spinner Nathan Lyon.
Probable XI: 1 David Warner 2 Usman Khawaja 3 Steven Smith 4 Marnus Labuschagne 5 Travis Head 6 Mitchell Marsh 7 Alex Carey (WK) 8 Mitchell Starc 9 Pat Cummins (C) 10 Nathan Lyon 11 Josh Hazlewood
Players to Watch-Out for
On the bouncy pitches of Perth, Mitchell Starc’s express pace will surely test Pakistani batters. Starc has 29 wickets in his last 7 Tests and he will be biggest threat for Pakistan in Perth. With the bat, in form Travis Head will be someone to watch out for. Fresh from a successful World Cup stint, Head has really been a clutch player for the Aussies. He averages 45 with the bat in his last 7 Tests.
For Pakistan, Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel have scored runs in abundance recently in Test Cricket. Babar Azam has 1000+ runs in his last 10 Test Matches while Saud averages 87.5 in his last 7 Tests. Pakistan will be more reliant on their batters because their bowling is relatively inexperienced.
Pakistan vs Australia Toss Prediction
Pakistan is likely to win the toss and they will opt to bowl first.
Australia vs Pakistan Win Prediction
Australia will begin this game as favorites with 70% chance to win.
