Australia and Pakistan have announced the teams for the Boxing Day Test i.e. the Test to be played on 26 December in Melbourne. Australia has not made any changes in the team. The playing eleven of the first test has been given a chance in the second match. Whereas Pakistan has announced 12 players for the second test.
The final playing eleven will be announced during the toss. Pakistan team can make three changes in the playing eleven. Wicketkeeper batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was included in the playing eleven of the first Test, has been dropped, Mohammad Rizwan has been included in his place. Rizwan had played unbeaten half-centuries in the two-day practice match against Victorian XI on Friday and Saturday. Sarfaraz Ahmed had scored 7 runs in both the innings in the Perth Test. Questions were raised on captain Shan Masood even after giving a chance to Sarfaraz Ahmed in the first test.
Khurram Shahzad is out of the team in the second test due to injury. In his place, one of Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza can be a part of the eleven, while Faheem Ashraf will also not be a part of Pakistan's eleven. Before the Melbourne Test, Masood also gave clarification on the inclusion of Sarfaraz in the playing eleven in the press conference. He said that Sarfaraz was performing brilliantly in domestic cricket. Even if one change had been made in the first test, it would not have made much difference to the result of the match. There is no competition between Sarfaraz and Mohammad Rizwan. We all know the talent of Rizwan. Sarfaraz was given a chance in the first Test because he had scored runs at an average of 56.50 in 2016. Sarfaraz had performed well in domestic cricket, hence he was given importance.
Australia has not made any changes in the playing eleven for the second Test to be played in Melbourne. Only the team that won the first Test played in Perth has been given a chance in Melbourne. Australia defeated Pakistan by 360 runs in the first test.
David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafiq, Shan Masood (captain), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Ali Aga, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamir Jamal, Sajid Khan.
Also Read: Players who can help India win its first test series in Africa
Give Your Feedback