PAK vs AUS 2nd T20I Playing 11: Salman Agha-led Pakistan will square off against Travis Head-led Australia in the 2nd match of the T20I series on January 31 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
Pakistan secured a 22-run victory against Australia in the 1st T20I match and will be aiming to seal the series with a win in the saturday’s clash.
Australia and Pakistan have met on 29 occasions in the T20 format, where Australia has 14 wins, Pakistan has 14 wins, and one game ended with no result.
The T20I series will serve as preparation for the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Despite PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi showing uncertainty over Pakistan’s participation in marquee event, it is evident that the are highly unlikely to boycott the tournament.
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat. Speaking at the toss, Salman Agha said, “We want to bat first. It’s looking like another slow, and I think it’s going to turn. That’s what I think it’s going to turn into in the second inning more.”
“So we just wanted to put up an above-par score and try to restrict them. I’m going to bat 3. (On Babar Azam and Fakhar Azam batting in the middle order) I think they’re experienced enough and they know how it takes to bat on these numbers,” added Agha.
“And I’m very confident they will be able to do that. We’ve got three changes. Fakhar, Shaheen and Salman Mirza are not playing; they’re resting. And Faheem, Naseem and Usman Tariq are playing,” added Salman.
These kinds of pitches we’re going to get when we go to Sri Lanka. And that’s what we’re making here, and hopefully we can have a lot of practice here, and then when we go there, we don’t really have a problem with that,” concluded Salman Agha.
Meanwhile, Australia captain Mitchell Marsh said, “This series in isolation is really important to win for a lot of reasons. But we’ve still got to come here to win this series, so today’s a big game for us.”
“Yeah, we thought that the wicket probably slowed up a little bit. There was also a little bit of dew at the back end, which will hopefully help us tonight. But it’ll be another great challenge for us today,” said Marsh.
“Yes, there is. I always get stuck here, but myself, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott and one other come in. So that’s four others,” concluded Marsh.
PAK vs AUS 2nd T20I Playing 11
Pakistan Playing 11: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha(c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan(w), Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Abrar Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Usman Tariq
Australia Playing 11: Matthew Short, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh(c), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis(w), Matt Renshaw, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, Sean Abbott, Matthew Kuhnemann, Adam Zampa
