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Pakistan will kick-start their tour of Australia with the first of three Tests, starting with a day-night match at the Gabba in Brisbane. Join us on The Roar from 2pm (AEDT) for all the action and scores in our live blog.
Not too long ago, Pakistan were the world number one side in the ICC’s Test rankings. One poor performance against New Zealand saw them fall to fourth position behind India, England and Australia and another such showing could push them behind South Africa as well.
Australia embarked upon the tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year as favourites after having won five of the previous six Test series. However a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of the hosts followed, after which they crashed to a 5-0 defeat at the hands of South Africa in an ODI series before being outplayed by the Proteas in Australia.
The touring South African side overturned a poor first couple of days of their series to ensure a series win even before the start of the final Test and pushed the selectors into making drastic changes to their side.
A win in the final Test of the series against South Africa and a 3-0 crushing of New Zealand in the Chappell-Hadlee series means Australia go into this series against Pakistan with some more confidence than they would have otherwise.
Australia’s confidence will also be fuelled by the venue. They haven’t lost a Test at the Gabba since November 1988, a straightforward indicator of the bastion this ground is for the hosts. Add to the fact that no Asian side has ever won a Test in Brisbane since the start of Test cricket here in 1931, and Pakistan are staring at a difficult task.
At most times, the Gabba is a fast bowler’s paradise. With a pink ball and floodlights that will be used for this game, it will only add to the potency of the seamers, making it tough for the batsmen.
Pakistan’s recent issues have centred around their batting too. While youngster Babar Azam has given enough evidence to be called one for the future – his coach Mickey Arthur has already compared him to Virat Kohli – it’s the likes of Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Azhar Ali who will need to stand up to what could be torrid fast bowling spells from Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and co.
The tourists have the bowling attack to test the Aussie line-up; it’s just a question of which team can counter the seam-friendly conditions better and, by the evidence of recent times, Australia look to have a better set of batsmen and that’s where they could edge the contest.
Interestingly, Australia could go into the game with an all-pace attack, depending on how much grass is left on the surface. The decision will be made at the toss as to whether Chadd Sayers makes his debut or if Nathan Lyon gets another go.
Be sure to follow all the action from the first Test between Australia and Pakistan right here on The Roarwith our live scores and blog of this first day’s play from 2pm (AEDT).
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