Australia
announced an unaltered playing XI for the upcoming Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, aiming to secure the series against Pakistan. In contrast,
Pakistan
made a significant change by omitting veteran wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed.
In the initial Test at Perth, the hosts dominated, defeating Shan Masood's team by a margin of 360 runs within four days.
The pace trio of
Pat Cummins
, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood emerged unscathed from the encounter.
This means that Scott Boland, who made an impactful debut with figures of 6-7 at the MCG against England in 2021, will be left out for this match.
"We're a huge fan of Scotty, I don't think that's a secret," skipper Cummins told reporters on a wet Christmas Day. "He's ready to go if anything happens, so I'm sure he'll play a part at some point.
"The message (to Boland) is always 'we love what you bring, unfortunately, you miss out on this one but don't change, keep working hard and make sure you stay ready'."
The forecast indicates showers and possible thunderstorms for the opening day of play. However, these weather conditions are anticipated to dissipate by Wednesday afternoon.
Cummins expressed confidence in the likelihood of achieving a result despite the initial inclement weather.
"I think there will be plenty of time to finish the game. I don't think (the weather) will change anything," he said. "(The wicket) looks pretty good. Fair bit of grass, probably a little bit harder and not as green as last year."
Injuries have dealt a severe blow to Pakistan since the Perth Test, with fast bowler Khurram Shahzad, along with their top spinners Abrar Ahmed and Noman Ali, all ruled out of the upcoming match in Melbourne.
In response to these setbacks, they have named a 12-man squad, resulting in the exclusion of Sarfaraz Ahmed and pace bowler Faheem Ashraf.
Mohammad Nawaz is set to don the wicketkeeping gloves, and the competition for Shahzad's spot in the bowling attack includes Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali, alongside the experienced Shaheen Shah Afridi and promising newcomer Aamer Jamal.
Facing the absence of Ahmed and Ali, Sajid Khan stands as their sole spin option for the upcoming game.
"We think Rizwan is ready and we can give Sarfaraz a little bit of a break to recoup and come back," said Masood. "It's more of a tactical decision in terms of the conditions and what we can get out of each player."
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Pakistan XII: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (capt), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamer Jamal, Sajid Khan
(With AFP inputs)
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