Saim Ayub to make his Test debut as Pakistan announce playing XI

Pakistan have announced their playing XI for the New Years’ Test against Australia, which begins on Wednesday, 3 January.

The two major names missing from the list are opener Imam-ul-Haq and fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi. 21-year-old Saim Ayub and 30-year-old Sajid Khan have been drafted into their place.

Saim, who made his T20I debut in March last year comes in the team on back of impressive List A performances for Karachi. This will be his first Test match. In the 8 T20Is he has played so far, he has scored 123 runs at an average of 17.57.

Sajid Khan returns to the Test side after a gap of nearly two years, having last played against Australia in March 2022 when they toured Pakistan. Sajid has a decent record in Tests with 22 wickets in seven games.

Earlier today, Australia announced their playing XI for the game as well going with an unchanged side from the last Test. It will also be David Warner’s final Test match in Australian colours.

The third Test will be played in Sydney from 3 to 7 January. Australia have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and are currently No. 3 on the ICC World Test Championship table.

Pakistan playing XI for third Test: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Sajid Khan, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamer Jamal.