Aus vs Pak, Lahore. Both Australia and Pakistan will be looking to start fresh in the ODI series after the not-so-exciting Test series. In the year of a T20 World Cup, the ODI series may not be on the priority list, but it is essential to keep the winning streak alive.
Australia played only four ODIs since December 2020! Pakistan played only seven ODIs since December 2020 and lost five of them! This shows that both the teams are on the same page in terms of form. Pakistan lost four out of the last five ODIs played, and Australia won three of the last five ODIs played.
Teams:
Due to injuries, Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith are ruled out of the series. Cameron Green and Marnus Labuschagne will replace them in the squad, respectively. Josh Inglis tested positive on Monday, and Alex Carey will keep the wickets.
Possible Playing 11: A Finch (C), B McDermott, M Labuschagne, T Head, M Stoinis, C Green, A Carey (WK), S Abbott, B Dwarshuis, A Zampa, N Ellis
Aussie pace attack may look like it trimmed down from the Test bowling attack. But this set of bowlers is currently in great form. Abbott, Dwarshuis, and Ellis had an excellent BBL season.
Shadab Khan is likely to miss the first two ODIs due to injury on the Pakistan side. Sarfaraz Ahmed and Imad Wasim are excluded from the squad. Instead, uncapped spinner Asif Afridi and WK-batter Mohammad Haris are new inclusion in the team. After an excellent Test series, it may finally be time for Abdullah Shafique to make his ODI debut.
Possible Playing 11: Imam-ul-Haq, F Zaman, B Azam, A Shafique, M Rizwan, I Ahmed, M Haris, A Afridi, H Ali, S Afridi, H Rauf
Pakistan team, on paper, looks more stable than Australia. The batting depth of Pakistan is not strong enough. However, Pakistan's pace attack is their best, unlike Australia.
Players to Watch:
(H2H Performances)
| M | I | Runs | 100s | 50s | Avg | |
| A Finch | 10 | 10 | 567 | 2 | 3 | 63.00 |
| B Azam | 6 | 6 | 312 | 1 | 1 | 52.00 |
| M Rizwan | 10 | 8 | 282 | 2 | 0 | 40.28 |
| T Head | 5 | 5 | 270 | 1 | 1 | 67.50 |
| I Haq | 4 | 4 | 116 | 0 | 1 | 29.00 |
| A Carey | 6 | 4 | 100 | 0 | 1 | 33.33 |
| M Stoinis | 5 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 5.33 |
| M | I | W | ER | Avg | |
| H Ali | 6 | 6 | 13 | 6.81 | 28.84 |
| A Zampa | 7 | 7 | 11 | 5.57 | 34.27 |
| M Stoinis | 5 | 5 | 2 | 6.38 | 57.50 |
| S Afridi | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7.00 | 35.00 |
| S Abbott | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.00 | 25.00 |
Pitch:
This pitch of Lahore is expected to be dry and help batters. The team winning the toss should opt to bat first here. Dry pitch means there may be a chance of reverse swing. Also, dry and hot conditions may favor spinners to turn the ball in the middle overs.
Why Can't Pakistan Beat Australia?
- Australia won 68 ODI matches out of 101 ODIs.
- Pakistan managed to win only 3 ODIs since the 2011 World Cup.
- Pakistan has only won 9 ODIs since the year 2000.
- The last time when Australia played the ODI series in Pakistan, Australia managed to clean-sweep the series.
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