Pakistan skipper Shan Masood won the toss and opted to bat in the first Test against South Africa in Lahore on Sunday.
Pakistan entered the match with two frontline spinners in Noman Ali and Sajid Khan. Sajid recovered from viral flu to get the nod, while Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali will lead the pace attack.
South Africa included three spinners in Simon Harmer, Senuran Muthusamy and Prenelan Subrayen, with Kagiso Rabada and Wiaan Mulder to share the new ball.
The second and final Test will be in Rawalpindi from October 20.
Today marks the start of Pakistan’s World Test Championship (WTC) campaign of the 2025-27 cycle, with a spin battle set to take centre stage.
The Shan Masood-led hosts, who finished an embarrassing last in the nine-team table of the 2023-25 WTC, must raise their game significantly in all departments if they are to resist Aiden Markram-captained tourists who claimed their maiden WTC crown by beating Australia in the final at Lord’s last year.
The Gaddafi Stadium did not host any Test in the previous WTC cycle after the venue was used for the third and final Test between Pakistan and Australia in March 2022. South Africa, on their last tour to Pakistan in 2021, lost a two-Test series 2-0.
While both the captains expected a spin-friendly track at the Gaddafi Stadium, there were doubts over the inclusion of key Pakistan off-spinner Sajid, who was suffering from a viral infection but did practise with the team yesteday.
Ahead of the game, Shan said taking 20 wickets, rather than piling up big scores, will be key to winning the Test series. “We don’t want flat tracks where matches end in draws,” he remarked.
In his presser, Markram acknowledged Pakistan’s plan to prepare spinning pitches at home and said that his players were ready for the challenge. “As a team not heavily exposed to these conditions, it is going to be exciting and a great opportunity for us to get things right here.”
Teams:
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Simon Harmer, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Prenelan Subrayen, Kyle Verreynne
Umpires: Chris Brown (NZ) and Rod Tucker (AUS)
TV umpire: Sharfuddoula Saikat (BAN)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)
