Pakistan vs Australia, 1st T20I, Preview: The Aussies eye the top rank as hosts look to defend it

Pakistan will be hosting Australia for a 3-match T20I series with the first one beginning on Wednesday. The hosts will be confident having won the Test series 1-0 earlier. Also, they are the ICC No 1 T20I side at the moment. However, their rank will be at stake if Australia clean sweep them in the series.

But, this will not be an easy task given that they have struggled against spin in the subcontinent. Pakistan will be going in as the clear favourites into this series. However, Australia will be expecting a turn around of things with a different person at the helm in the form of Aaron Finch and with some T20 specialists who have joined the side.

They defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 6 wickets in the game that they played on Monday. D’Arcy Short looked good in that encounter and the bowlers have performed well. Hence, the Aussies will take a lot of confidence from that match and will believe they are well-prepared for the shortest format of the game.

Team Combinations

Pakistan

Pakistan will be playing a T20I game after quite a long time. They defeated the same opposition in the final of the tri-series that was played in Zimbabwe in July to clinch that series. The Pakistan team has already announced their playing XI ahead of the encounter. The major update is the Shoaib Malik will be missing out for the series opener. Sahibzada Farhan, Waqas Maqsood and Usman Khan are the other players who are left out.

Playing XI: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Hussain Talat, Sarfaraz Ahmed(c)(wk), Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi.

Australia

Australia will be making a few changes from the side that played against the United Arab Emirates. Vice-captain Mitchell Marsh, who was rested for that game will make a return into the XI in place of Ben McDermott. Both Nathan Coulter Nile and Billy Stanlake were highly impressive in the previous match. Hence, Mitchell Starc might have to wait longer to make it back into the T20I side. Nathan Lyon and Peter Siddle could be the other two players who will be warming the bench.

Predicted XI: Chris Lynn, D’Arcy Short, Aaron Finch(c), Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter Nile, Billy Stanlake, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa

Focus will be on

Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan)

After the poor outings in the recently concluded Asia Cup, Fakhar Zaman made a comeback in the second Test against Australia where he made his debut in the longest format of the game. He looked to be in good touch in that match which was a great sign. The No. 2 ranked T20I batsman will be opening the innings in the first T20I and has got a lot to prove. He will be eager to get some big runs and the Aussie bowlers will have to be wary of the threat from him.

Aaron Finch (Australia)

The Aussie skipper has been in great touch in the last few months. After having missed out on getting amongst the runs in the T20I against UAE, he will want to make his mark. Finch could be batting in the middle order given the Chris Lynn opens the innings and can take the game away just within a few balls in the middle overs. He rotates the strike well and can find the gaps easily while playing the big shots.

Broadcast Details:

TV – Sony

Live Streaming – SonyLiv

Match Timings: 21:30 IST | 20:00 local

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