The last time Pakistan played a 50-over game, Babar Azam was still Pakistan’s all-format captain, India’s fortress in a home Test series had never been breached with a whitewash, Bazball was all raging, and Australia had only four ODI World Cups in their trove (pathetic). They spent a year cleaning up the mess their shambolic ODI World Cup campaign caused and in the process, cycled through more premiers, captains, and coaches than many organizations do in their entire lifespans. But all these off-field changes are no alternatives for testing how these strategies have panned out in real-time. And for that Pakistan team, under their third new white-ball captain in a year, is ready to take on Australia at the G.
For Australia, things have been on the pretty side of the spectrum. They won the ODI World Cup, where Pakistan endured chastising. Unlike Pakistan, they have not seen new players come in as captain biannually nor have they avoided the format for as long. In fact, they played a five-match ODI series against England in September. But Australia have their own first-world problem. A Champions Trophy is coming up in three months, the World Test Championship has taken a wild turn, and an injured and more dangerous Indian team is due to visit them by the end of this month.
Team Overview:
It’s (another) new beginning for Pakistan. This is Mohammad Rizwan’s first assignment after his announcement as the white-ball captain of the side. Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah have also returned. Fresh from their butchering Bazball in the recent Test series, Kamran Ghulam and Saim Ayub have made their way into the team. Fast bowling options are aplenty for Pakistan with BBL favs Mohammad Hasnain and Haris Rauf joining Naseem and Shaheen. Debutant Irfan Khan coming in at 7 means, Pakistan will also bat deep. On paper, they look stacked but Pakistan tend to conveniently digress from the norm. The openers are not experienced and the experienced are not in form. Add to that the fact that Pakistan have not played an ODI game in a year. All it will take is a collapse to take Pakistan back to their ODI World Cup trauma.
With Cameron Green injured, and Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh on paternity leaves, Australia have brought in both Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk, both of whom get to make their case for replacing David Warner. Both Short and Fraser-McGurk were brilliant against England, with the former having an edge over the latter thanks to his incredible bowling skills that yielded a five-wicket haul. This is also a point to be noted for the Aussie Head Coach Andrew McDonald who has been on the outlook for all-rounders for a long time. With Green out of the squad, there is Aaron Hardie to do the job but McDonald would not mind if Short keeps on delivering with both bat and ball.
Lance Morris comes in to audition as a backup for the big three. Australia would be glad to get another such pacer to manage the workload of their big guns since they have a packed schedule coming up including seven Tests and a one-off ODI game in the window from after this tour until the Champions Trophy.
Head-to-Head Matches:
Pakistan have faced Australia in 72 ODI matches, out of which the latter won 37 while the former came out on top in 15 games. Both teams share 20 drawn matches in the 50-over format.
Weather and Pitch Report:
It’s almost the start of summer down under but the cold has not yet fully departed. Melbourne skies will be covered with clouds but don’t expect the rain to disturb the match. The surface, traditionally, offers its best for the bowlers. Hit-the-deck bowlers would benefit the most and seamers can use the conditions to their favour. If anything, spinners will be handy to get the pacers a breather. It is not easy clearing the fences at the MCG with boundaries being far away than usual.
Where to Watch:
Pakistan: Tamasha App, Tapmad A sports
Australia: Foxtel, Kayo Sports
India: Star Sports 1, Hotstar app
UK: Sky Sports
New Zealand: Sky Sports NZ
USA: Willow TV
