• Home
  • Cricket Analysis
  • No Saim Ayub Rizwan And Babar To Open Pakistans Probable Xi For 1St T20i Vs Australia

No Saim Ayub; Rizwan And Babar To Open? Pakistan's Probable XI For 1st T20I Vs Australia

Babar Azam and Mohd. Rizwan in action (Source: @CrickUpdate56/X.com)Babar Azam and Mohd. Rizwan in action (Source: @CrickUpdate56/X.com)

After conquering Australia in the ODI challenge, Pakistan is now focused on Mission 2.0, i.e. the three-match T20I series. On 14 November Thursday, the Mohammad Rizwan-led side will fight it out in the first T20I against the Men in Yellow.

There are numerous changes that are likely to take place in the line-up for the highly-anticipated game. To begin with, the T20I series will include numerous fresh faces like Usman Khan, Arafat Minhas, Jahandad Khan, and Sufiyan Muqeem. It also has some notable exclusions, mainly explosive left-handed opener Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique, along with other players.

But focusing on the team's playing XI, considering Babar Azam has looked in good touch against the Aussies in the recently concluded ODI series he could return as an opener. There are strong chances indicating that the ex-Pakistan skipper, could return to his old position of an opener alongside newly-appointed captain Mohammad Rizwan, since Pakistan is trying to approach things in a newer manner. 

Rizwan and Babar have been a consistent and powerful force to reckon with, especially in T20 internationals, where the duo has slammed 2494 runs in 54 innings at an average of 47.96, setting the record for the highest opening partnership ever in the shortest format of the game.

Naseem Shah Likely To Be Dropped?

On the other hand, the bowling department will be led by Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf, who previously kept Australia on their toes. They could, however, drop Naseem Shah from their playing XI as they have a formidable new ball bowling pair of Shaheen and Rauf.

In 28 T20Is, Naseem has bagged only 24 wickets and relies on conditions to succeed in white-ball cricket. If this happens, Abbas Afridi will likely be included in his place, given that the right-arm pacer can outfox the Australian batters with his variations.

Pakistan's Probable Playing XI For 1st T20I vs Australia

Mohammad Rizwan (C/WK), Usman Khan, Babar Azam, Salman Ali Agha, Arafat Minhas, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Jahandad Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Haris Rauf, Abbas Afridi