The five-match One-Day International series between Pakistan and Australia, starting Friday (March 22) in Sharjah, will be important for the two teams who are looking to figure out the final pieces of a jigsaw puzzle called the ‘World Cup squad’.
Having recently beaten aformidable Indian unit in India, the Aaron Finch-led side will be confident andfavourites against an inexperienced Pakistan team who have rested six of theirkey players, including skipper Sarfraz Ahmed.
Australia had been inhorrendous form in ODIs before they arrived in India where things finallystarted to fall in place as they clinched both the T20I and ODI series.
The likes of Usman Khawaja,Peter Handscomb and Ashton Turner stepped up and made every opportunity count,which will now make David Warner and Steve Smith’s comeback slightly difficult.The two are currently in India for the IPL but they did spend some time withthe national set-up in UAE.
Their ban will officiallyend on March 29, which means they were available for the final two ODIs againstPakistan but the selectors didn’t want to tinker with a winning combination andthought IPL will serve as a better platform for them to prepare and get back totheir best ahead of the mega event in England.
The Australian teammanagement will be delighted with the way other players have performed in theabsence of Smith, Warner, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood who were the coreof the side in the 2015 World Cup.
This series will be crucialfor Shaun Marsh who all of a sudden is most likely to sit out once thesuspended pair return.
Despite being a prolificscorer for Australia in the last few years, the left-hander seems to be fadingaway with the emergence of other exciting individuals.
Turner, 26, is one of thoseindividuals who has managed to make an impact just at the right time. It washis unbeaten 43-ball 84 that helped Australia chase down a 359-run target inMohali and the think tank-will now try to form a lower middle-order comprisingof Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Turner, which looks solid on paper.
Maxwell, however, missedtraining two days after being struck down by illness and his availability forthe first ODI is doubtful.
In the bowling department,Pat Cummins has led the attack and has found an able ally in Jhye Richardson.The two are also decent batsmen down the order and the race for the World Cupspot will largely be between Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff and KaneRichardson. Meanwhile, spinner Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon did a decent job inIndia and will like to do the same in UAE where the conditions will befavourable to them.
Talking about Pakistan,there have been some serious debate over selectors’ decision of resting siximportant players – Sarfraz, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khanand Shaheen Shah Afridi – just ahead of the World Cup. In their absence, thelikes of Haris Sohail, Junaid Khan, Umar Akmal, Yasir Shah, Abid Ali, MohammadAbbas, Mohammad Hasnain and Saad Al will look to make of this opportunity topush their names for the World Cup.
The most experienced playerin the side, Shoaib Malik will captain Pakistan and look to make the most ofavailable resources. Most of the above-mentioned players did well in therecently concluded Pakistan Super League, with teenage tearaway Hasnain makingquite an impression. This series will also serve as a perfect chance forsomeone like Yasir, Junaid and Abbas to make an impact alongside Mohammad Amirand Usman Shinwari.
In batting, Malik, Akmal,Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood will have to sharethe responsibility. It will be interesting to see how Akmal performs. The28-year-old has been accused of poor behaviour both on and off the field whicheventually led to his exclusion. Akmal is now back into the mix of things byperforming consistently in domestic cricket and PSL and will try to make surehe doesn’t throw away this opportunity.
This will be Australia’slast assignment before the World Cup, while Pakistan are scheduled to playEngland in early May.
Pakistan:
Shoaib Malik (captain),Abid Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Sohail, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Junaid Khan,Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), SaadAli, Shan Masood, Umar Akmal, Usman Shinwari, Yasir Shah.
Australia:
Aaron Finch (captain),Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Turner,Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jhye Richardson,Kane Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa. Agencies