Pakistan and Australia will resume hostilities in the First of Three ODIs in Lahore today, 29 March. The tour will then conclude with a T20I on the same ground.
For both sides it is a return to the scene of the crime, the ground where Australia wrapped up their historic Test series win on Sunday. Not that many names will be the same as finished the match in Lahore.
For a host of reasons – rest, injuries, IPL commitments – a number of those stars will not feature. That may give others their chance, with both Ben Dwarshuis and Nathan Ellis in line for their international debuts.
Pakistan, by contrast, will be able to name much the same team and, having lost in front of their home fans in the five day version, will be desperate for revenge in the shorter format of the game.
Australia have much the better head-to-head record – in 101 previous ODIs between the two countries, they have won 68 of them. They have not played an ODI though since last July, and only four since December 2020.
For their part, Pakistan’s last ODI series was in England last summer and they lost all three matches then.
Likely XIs:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Imam ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Haris, Faheem Ashraf, Asif Afridi, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Ben McDermott, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Cam Green, Alex Carey (wk), Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Adam Zampa, Nathan Ellis.
Fantasy Tips:
• Finch made history when he became the first Australian captain to lift the T20 World Cup last year, but has not played an ODI for more than 15 months. Still take a punt on him.
• Babar, the top-ranked ODI batter, averages 56.92 – the fourth-best in history. He is a safe choice.
• Reverse swing could be a factor later in both innings in hot and dry conditions. Pick as many pacers as you can.