Australia opt to omit key bowler for 'grand final'

Perhaps appropriately given domestic football codes have kicked off at home, Australia are approaching the third and final Test against Pakistan like a "grand final" but have opted to go into the decider without one of their most influential players.

Josh Hazlewood, the only other Australia bowler in the top 10 of the current global Test rankings behind skipper Pat Cummins (number one), will remain surplus to requirements with his captain expecting reverse swing and spin to be decisive factors for the finale starting in Lahore on Monday.

Rather, Australia will stick with new-ball pair Cummins and Mitchell Starc supported by spin duo Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson as well as allrounder Cameron Green, who has impressed in his first campaign on subcontinent pitches.

Cummins confirmed that while Hazlewood came under close consideration after bowling a lengthy spell in the Gadaffi Stadium practice nets during Saturday's training session, Starc's destructive reverse swing last week in Karachi plus his greater pace tipped selection in his favour.

"Only having two quick bowlers (in the starting XI), I think reverse swing is going to be the biggest factor and I thought the way Starcy played last game was fantastic (with) three wickets in the first innings," Cummins said.

"It's always tough leaving out someone like Joshy, even Scotty Boland on the bench, but I think the class and the difference that Starcy brings as a left-armer, a bit more air speed, we think probably gives us the best chance of taking 20 wickets."

It's believed to be the first time Hazlewood has been overlooked for consecutive Tests when available for selection since making his debut against India at the Gabba in 2014.

Having been omitted after the first Test in Rawalpindi, this tour also represents the first occasion the 31-year-old has been overlooked for the Test team when fully fit since the opening match of Australia's 2019 Ashes campaign in the UK, when James Pattinson and Peter Siddle were preferred to Starc and Hazlewood.

He had previously been left out of the 2015 Ashes Test at The Oval, but the other Tests he has missed in his career before this tour had been due to injury.

Cummins claimed the decision reflected expectations the pitch in Lahore – which has not hosted a Test match since 2009 – would also aid spinners as the match progressed, and he has been full of praise for new cap Swepson even though the debutant returned 0-156 from 53 overs in Pakistan's stoic second innings in Karachi.

"I think we need two spinners," Cummins said. "We bounced a few different options around, but we thought this is our best eleven.

"I think it was good enough last week, but we just didn't quite get over the line.

"It's a pretty lucky situation to be in, leaving someone of Joshy's class on the bench."

The pitch assessment was echoed by Pakistan captain Babar Azam, who expects the Lahore surface to play slightly differently to the one that yielded a draw in Karachi, with an expectation it will be more receptive to spin.

Babar indicated that Pakistan – who have won 12 and drawn 22 of their 40 Tests played at the Gaddafi Stadium since 1959 – would not finalise their starting XI until "after the pitch is reviewed".

Off-spinner Sajid Khan's place in the line-up has been questioned given his 107 overs across the first two Tests have yielded three wickets at an average of 106, but the view Lahore's pitch will spin on the final days might be sufficient for the 28-year-old to be retained.

Babar agreed that – as has been the case in the first two Test of the Benaud-Qadir Trophy Series – the team that wins the toss and bats first will "have the edge".

Questions have also been asked in Pakistan about opener Imam ul Haq's batting even though he was named player of the match for the first Test in Rawalpindi having posted centuries in both innings, but the skipper defended the left-hander against claims he scored too slowly.

"Criticism is never ending," Babar told a media conference as he prepared for his maiden Test in the city of his birth having debuted for Pakistan almost seven years ago.

"You play well you will be criticised, and if you don’t perform well you are criticised.

"Where slow run-rate is concerned, even Australia played with a run-rate of 2.9 throughout (their first innings at Karachi), it all depends on the situation and what is it demanding.

"You cannot always take risk and play, you have to keep your calm. You sometimes get a session where you score runs and sometimes a session where you are not able to score runs, and the way my team has played is outstanding."

While the pace at which the first two Tests have played out – due largely to the lifeless surfaces they have been played upon – has proved a frustration for cricket fans, it has come as no surprise to Australia even though they are making their first visit to Pakistan since 1998.

Across the history of Test cricket, Pakistan shows the highest percentage of drawn matches on home soil (47.4 per cent of all games played) ahead of neighbours India (41.3) and New Zealand (40).

Of Test-playing nations to have hosted more than a handful of matches, Australia's ratio of drawn results (18.9 per cent) is the lowest.

Cummins and his squad had prepared for long-drawn out matches and regularly referred to the compacted schedule of the three-week Qantas Tour's Test component as effectively a 15-day match given the minimal breaks between playing days and the attritional nature of the cricket.

Keeper Alex Carey, a former footballer with current AFL outfit Greater Western Sydney Giants, noted this weekend "we've basically got a grand final to play on Monday".

And if the theme of the current campaign has been not three standalone contests but a rolling 15-day battle, then the Test starting effectively becomes that elongated game's final session.

"When we speak about a 15-day Test match, it's short turnarounds – three days last Test, four days this Test – and there's a lot of draws over here in Pakistan," Cummins said.

"We're used to playing in Australia, and other parts of the world where there's always results more often than not.

"Whereas here, opportunities might not present themselves every day.

"We had a small opportunity, a good opportunity last game but didn't quite get it so it comes to this last game.

"But I think it's a matter of holding on, holding on until a couple of those opportunities throughout those 15 days spruik up."

Despite looking to their established pace duo and newly minted spin pairing to create most of those opportunities across the next five days, Cummins is also excited about a potential x-factor in allrounder Green.

The 22-year-old, in his first offshore Test series having debuted against India in late 2020, has snared just two wickets at 58 from 42 overs in Pakistan but his captain believes he has adapted so quickly to the unique challenges of subcontinental bowling that he poses an increasing threat.

But he revealed he only planned to deploy his first-change seamer when he sensed those fleeting wicket-taking opportunities were in the offing.

"I've seen him growing as a bowler and as a player in general," Cummins said of Green's development in just his third Test campaign.

"He's never experienced pitches like this before, he's never really bowled with reverse swing before so for him to be able to develop quickly, on the biggest stage, has been exciting to watch.

"I think there's certain moments within the 80 overs of a ball where pace bowlers aren't going to be as effective, and there's other times when the ball's reverse swinging where you've got a real role to play.

"So I think if he's on, it's for a real purpose.

"It's to have impact with the reverse-swinging ball, or perhaps use his pace and bounce for some short bowling to try and create something.

"But I think over here, if it's just bowling for the sake of it, we've got some great spinner options that will mean we can keep Greeny fresher for the other times."

Qantas Tour of Pakistan 2022

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner. On standby: Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Renshaw

First Test: Match drawn

March 12-16: Match drawn

March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore

Pakistan ODI and T20 squad: Babar Azam (c), 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, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Saud Shakeel*, Shaheen Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir (*ODIs only)

Australia ODI and T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

March 29: First ODI, Lahore

March 31: Second ODI, Lahore

April 2: Third ODI, Lahore

April 5: Only T20I, Lahore

All matches to be broadcast in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports