Pakistan's hold on T20 crown to be tested

Sunday's opening match of the Gillette T20I Series in Sydney not only begins Pakistan's tour of Australia but also their preparations for the T20 World Cup that is now less than a year away.

Pakistan's schedule in the next twelve months is filled with plenty of 20-over cricket: they play Australia, Bangladesh, England, Ireland, South Africa and in the Asia Cup before the tournament but arguably none will be as important to their World Cup preparations as this series, knowing that the World Cup will also be played in Australia.

Even though a year is a long time in cricket, performances from this tour will play a huge role when Pakistan's coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq sits down to pick the World Cup squad next year.

Pakistan are coming into this tour on the back of a 3-0 series loss in Lahore at the hands of Sri Lanka, and the fact that they have lost six out of their seven T20Is this year has put Pakistan's status as the world No.1 ranked team under threat.

Indeed, should Australia manage a 3-0 sweep as they inflicted on Sri Lanka, then Aaron Finch's side would leapfrog Pakistan in the ICC standings. If that were to happen and England also sweep New Zealand, then Pakistan would slip to third.

It cannot be denied that Pakistan have some of the best short-format cricketers in Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim and Fakhar Zaman who have been vital to Pakistan's rise, but there are couple of other factors that have played into their hands as well.

No other team takes bilateral T20s as seriously as Pakistan. A sport-crazy nation where even one defeat in T20s can draw plenty of criticism, Pakistan do not take any series lightly, while other nations have not been afraid to rest marquee players.

For example, Mitchell Starc is Australia's premier limited overs bowler but has featured in only five of Australia 31 T20 matches since the last World Cup. Pat Cummins has played in eight and Steve Smith had not played any until his three in the recent clean sweep of Sri Lanka.

Virat Kohli has missed 18 T20Is for India since the last World Cup and won't be leading India in their forthcoming series against Bangladesh. England are currently touring New Zealand for a five-match series without any of Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Mark Wood and Jofra Archer.

Babar Azam, on the other hand, has only missed seven games in 2018 with a wrist injury since his debut in 2016.

Pakistan have won their past five T20s against Australia but none of those games featured Starc, Cummins, Smith or David Warner. Australia are also using this home season as a preparation for the T20 World Cup and are playing with their first-choice players which makes Pakistan's challenge all the more daunting.

If Pakistan are to win the series their power-hitters will need to fire. The move back to Lahore for international cricket has brought new challenges – all but one of their matches have been played on true pitches where 180-200 is a winning total unlike the slow pitches in the UAE where totals around 150 could be chased or defended and power-hitting isn't really tested.

Only 23 of 821 balls faced by Pakistan batsmen in 2019 have been hit for six – just 2.8 per cent of deliveries, which is lowest among the ICC's full member teams in 2019.

As the pitches in three games in Sydney, Canberra and Perth are likely to favour stroke play, the performance of Pakistan's power-hitters Fakhar, Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah will play a key role in the outcome of the series.

Pakistan have been carrying Asif for more than a year despite little returns with the hope of solving their six-hitting woes and now have also added Khushdil to play a similar role. Asif has been a huge success in the PSL but is yet to fire at T20 international level. He has 316 runs and a strike-rate 130.04 but averages 19.75 and is yet to score a fifty.

Khushdil's domestic T20 games have yielded 698 runs at a strike-rate of 120.34 and earned his nod after scoring a crucial 46no off 26 balls to chase 179 in a National T20 Cup match in Faisalabad. His 82 sixes in Pakistan's List A cricket since 2016 is the highest for any batsman and another reason Misbah is hopeful he could provide their run-rate an impetus in the death overs.

This series will also be a litmus test for Babar Azam, who will be captaining Pakistan for the first time. The 25 years old is the No.1 T20 batsman in the world but how he copes with the pressure of captaincy remains to be seen. If he does well here, he could also be in line to captain the ODI team.

Pakistan have historically struggled in Australia, it is the toughest touring place for them – and many other teams besides. The last time Pakistan won a series Down Under in any format was 17 years ago when a Waqar Younis-led side won a three-match ODI series in Melbourne and Brisbane.

Since then Pakistan have lost 24 of 26 international games against Australia in Australia. But despite all the challenges and abysmal numbers, T20s are the best chance for Pakistan to claim a win.

Gillette T20 INTLs v Pakistan

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir.

November 3: First T20I, SCG, 2.30pm (Fox & Kayo)

November 5: Second T20I, Manuka Oval, 7.10pm (Fox & Kayo)

November 8: Third T20I, Perth Stadium, 4.30pm (Fox & Kayo)