Australia hopes to continue its success against Pakistan when the two teams meet for the first game of a two-match test series on Wednesday at 2:00 a.m. ET. Live stream the match by clicking this link.
The match will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Australia dominated Pakistan in their one-day series earlier this month, but the Aussies took a 153-run loss to the Pakistan A team in their warmup match on Saturday.
Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle will be important for Australia thanks to their reverse-swing approach. Captain Michael Clarke is expected to be back in the lineup after missing the ODI series with injury. Chris Rogers will need to improve his play at the top of the order. Alex Doolan recorded a century in the warmup match and will be important to Australia's success along with Phil Hughes and Mitchell Marsh.
Pakistan will be a depleted team with Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Junaid Khan and Wahab Riaz all expected to miss the match. But optimism comes from Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Ahmed Shehzad and Rahat Ali, who were all impressive in their dominant warmup match performance. Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar and rookie Yasir Shah might also see some action. Despite the relative inexperience of the Pakistan lineup, Chairman of selectors Moin Khan is confident in their chances.
"The series will provide an excellent opportunity to the youngsters to test and hone their skills at the highest level against a highly competitive Australia side, it will also provide a good chance to our experienced players to return to their best form," Khan said, according to PCB.com.
Starting Squads
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt.), Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Ehsan Adil, Haris Sohail, Imran Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Talha, Rahat Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed (W/k), Shan Masood, Taufeeq Umar, Yasir Shah, Younis Khan, Zulfiqar Babar
Australia: Michael Clarke (capt.), George Bailey, Alex Doolan, James Faulkner, Brad Haddin, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phil Hughes, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O'Keefe, Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner.
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