Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan are aiming for maximum 30 points when the Australia three-match white-ball series starts with the first one-day international at picturesque Gaddafi Stadium here on Tuesday (today). The next two ODIs will be on Thursday and Saturday, also at GSL. Australia are brimming with confidence after a historic and much-hyped three-Test series ended 1-0 in their favour. But with stars such as David Warner, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Steven Smith all missing from the white-ball component of the tour, Australia face a challenge to come away with victory. The visitors also suffered big a blow on Monday when their Twenty20 star Mitchell Marsh was ruled out with injury. Emerging star Cameron Green is set to be his replacement. Marsh was their hero when they won the Twenty20 World Cup in November last year. It is pertinent to mention that both Pakistan and Australia are eying qualification for the ICC World Cup in India, which is only 18 months away. The series is part of the 13-team ODI Super League in which every match carries 10 points, with the top seven qualifying automatically for the World Cup next year. Australia are currently seventh and Pakistan 10th, but both have played just three of their eight scheduled series. India have already qualified as hosts.

Australia have a commanding record against Pakistan in ODIs with 68 wins from 101 completed matches. On their last tour of Pakistan in 1998, Australia wrapped up a clean sweep of the three-match ODI series with a six-wicket victory in Lahore to complete the then second-highest successful chase in history. Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist scored centuries to lead Australia’s chase down of 316 with seven balls to spare. After a tough home summer, Australian skipper Aaron Finch has a chance to ease his pressure with a big series in Pakistan. Having memorably become the first Australian captain to lift the T20 World Cup trophy, a laboured Finch struggled through the season with a persistent knee injury during a lacklustre Big Bash League (BBL) and subsequent T20I series against Sri Lanka. The 35-year-old is keen to continue through to next year’s World Cup but his dip in form has raised eyebrows. Finch has not played an ODI since December 2020, but expressed confidence during his press conference on Monday of being able to slip back into the 50-over format comfortably enough. He will be relied upon to shore up Australia’s inexperienced batting order, and if he fires then that should quell simmering pressure over his position. Finch believes the series is an opportunity to build the squad. “It’s going to be a difficult challenge. The plus that comes from that, as it always does when these things happen, is you build depth,” Finch said on Monday. To a question, Finch said that the 30-year-old Marsh may miss the whole ODI series. “Mitch injured his hip flex during fielding drills on Sunday. We have to wait and see, but I don’t think he will be available for the series based on how he was feeling yesterday.” Finch hopes new players such as Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Josh Inglis and Ben McDermott will rise to the occasion despite their inexperience. “At times that can be a real blessing because you have the ability for guys to just play freely and express themselves,” said Finch. Finch can take heart from the fact that Pakistan have not won an ODI series against them since 2002, with Australia winning eight of the 11 — the last seven in succession.

Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman said his team were looking for maximum 30 points from the series. “Australia are missing some big names so that will make a difference,” he said. “But it’s an international team and we are not going to take them lightly because Australia is known for doing well in all situations and all circumstances.” Fakhar vowed Pakistan will put the Test series loss behind them. “Our captain has spoken that what has happened is beyond us… this is a new series so we will do our best to win it.” Pakistan are likely to be without legspinner Shadab Khan for the opening two ODIs after he sustained a groin injury during the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They have a strong squad, including a contingent who played in the Tests, but excluded former captain Sarfraz Ahmed and all-rounder Imad Wasim. They included uncapped spinner Asif Afridi and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Haris after strong performances in the PSL, while an ODI debut for Abdullah Shafique, who starred in the Tests at the top of the order, could be forthcoming.

Teams (from):

Pakistan:

Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Abdullah Shafique, Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-Ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Zahid Mahmood, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir.

Australia:

Aaron Finch (captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Ben McDermott, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Adam Zampa.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK) and Asif Yaqoob (PAK)

TV umpire: Ahsan Raza (PAK)

Match referee: Muhammad Javed Malik (PAK).