Pakistan took the field against Australia in the 2nd Test in Abu Dhabi with two debutants on Monday. They won the toss and opted to bat first. On the other hand, the Aussie visitors preferred the same team which drew the previous game in Dubai.
Pakistan’s opening batsman in limited-overs format, Fakhar Zaman, became the 234th player to represent Pakistan in Test cricket. He replaced Imam ul Haq who was ruled out of this game after fracturing his little finger on the left hand. Zaman received his cap from batsman Azhar Ali.
Zaman, well known in India or his destructive knock in the Champions Trophy 2017 final, has been a consistent performer for Pakistan in shorter formats. He has played 23 ODIs and 22 T20Is for his country so far, scoring 1121 and 646 runs respectively.
After Zaman, left-arm medium pacer Mir Hamza is another player making his debut in the second Test. He became the 235th Test cricketer for Pakistan and received his cap from Asad Shafiq.
Hamza has a brilliant career in Pakistan’s domestic circuit. In 56 first-class matches, he has scalped 278 wickets and 72 wickets in List A cricket.
Here’re the Playing XIs of both the side:
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Bilal Asif, Yasir Shah, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Tim Paine (c & wk), Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland