Pakistan are likely to field an unchanged line-up against Australia in the second one-day international in Adelaide on Friday. A source close to the team said there had been some discussions about handing a debut to left-arm wrist spinner Faisal Akram but the pitch seemed more encouraging for the pacers. “Pakistan will likely field the same eleven that lost the first match in Melbourne by two wickets. The same four-bowler combination, Shaheen Shah Friedi, Harish Rauf, Mohammad Hasnan and Naseem Shah, who was cleared to play in the first game of the tournament after suffering a minor strain that forced him to leave the field,” the source said.
He also said that Pakistan will rely on their part-time spinners Agha Salman, Saim Ayub and Kamran Ghulam, who played in the opener No bowling was called for in the ODI and Australia won by 17 overs.
Openers Abdullah Shafiq and Syed Ayoub will get another chance to open the innings and all eyes will be on star batsman Babar Azam who has been struggling for form. In a game in Melbourne, he scored 37 runs and was dismissed after a poor innings.
“There have been rumors about trying to replace Mohammad Hasnan with all-rounder Aamir Jamal, but the team management, including interim head coach Jason Gillispie, believed that only playing after Hasnan returned to international duty. It would be unfair to give him up after one game.
Pakistan’s playing XI for the second ODI: Muhammad Rizwan (c & wk), Agha Salman (vc), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Irfan Khan Niazi, Kamran Ghulam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Muhammad Hasnain and Naseem Shah.
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