Hasan is a skiddy quick bowler who has not faced Australia before in Tests, so it will be a new challenge for the top order
KARACHI: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-March 11th, 2022) Hasan Ali is expected to come back into Pakistan's line-up after missing the opening match with an abductor strain.
It would mean the reunion of the pairing with Shaheen; the duo has claimed 88 Test wickets during 2021, of which Hasan took 41 at 16.07 in just eight outings. Hasan is a skiddy quick bowler who has not faced Australia before in Tests, so it will be a new challenge for the top order.
After a long wait, Mitchell Swepson will make his Test debut. "I think it's quite special that someone like Mitchell Swepson is going to debut tomorrow as a legspinner who grew up trying to replicate Warnie," Pat Cummins said at the end of what has been an emotional week for the game. The last specialist legspinner to debut for Australia was Bryce McGain 2009, or Steven Smith in 2010 if you consider his response on social media.
Swepson will hope for a longer stay than McGain's lone outing; Smith will likely be stood at slip; his career having gone in another direction.
Faheem Ashraf's negative Covid test the day after he was positive is a huge boost for Pakistan, and it also means they will be able to balance their side with a seam-bowling allrounder at No. 7. The other change that is likely to happen is Hasan replacing Naseem Shah.
Pakistan (probable) 1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Babar Azam (capt), 5 Fawad Alam, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Faheem Ashraf, 8 Nauman Ali, 9 Sajid Khan, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi
Cummins confirmed Australia's XI with Swepson handed a debut and that he is replacing Josh Hazlewood. This means Mitchell Starc's left-arm angle is retained.
Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Mitchell Swepson, 11 Nathan Lyon
