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Rizwan And Co Asked To Bat First; Shaheen, Naseem In Pakistan's Pace-Heavy Attack

OneCricket

Rizwan and Markram at the toss time (Source: @PakPassion/X)Rizwan and Markram at the toss time (Source: @PakPassion/X)

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Ahead of the first of the three-match ODI series, South Africa's stand-in captain Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bat first. Markram came as a leader in place of Temba Bavuma, who is all set to miss out the series opener due to workload management.

While Pakistan are going with a pace heavy attack, which included Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Irfan Khan Niazi, South Africa initially kept Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi in their playing XI.

However, Maharaj was later ruled out of the first ODI, and hence, Andile Phehlukwayo came in as his late replacement.

Pakistan had a forgettable T20I series, in which they lost 0-2 before the rain did not allow a single ball in the dead rubber. The Men in Green would love to stage a fightback, with the Rizwan-led aiming to set the tone with an early dominance.

PAK vs SA 1st ODI: Playing XIs

Pakistan XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Salman Ali Agha, Irfan Khan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

South Africa XI: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Tabraiz Shamsi

PAK vs SA 1st ODI: Captains' Thoughts

Mohammad Rizwan: "We wanted to bat first as well. The toss is not in your control. Yeah, obviously, we are the defending champions of the Champions Trophy. We are preparing for it as well. But there is another tournament before that one in Pakistan. 

But 70-80 percent, it's the same team that will play in the Champions Trophy. We have played in different conditions. We played in Australia. We played in Zimbabwe, and now we are here in South Africa. In Pakistan, there will be different conditions. But more or less, this is our squad for the Champions Trophy."

Aiden Markram: "We are going to bat first. Looks a good wicket. Not played enough games under light. Hoping to put a good target on the board and defend it.

"You have to be street-smart batting here. In the build-up, a little discussion. We don't have too many games left before Champions Trophy. We got two spinners, Keshav and Shams playing and three seamers. Got myself as well, if needed."