“We were really happy with how all 11 players went last Test”: Pat Cummins confirms unchanged XI for Pakistan vs Australia Lahore test

Pakistan vs Australia Lahore test: Australian captain Pat Cummins has confirmed an unchanged XI for the third test.

Pakistan will take on Australia in the third game of the test series at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The series is currently levelled at 0-0, and the winner of this game will take the series. The first game at the Rawalpindi was a boring draw, whereas the second game was a thriller in the end.

The batters have enjoyed the series so far, with Usman Khawaja being the highest run-scorer with 301 runs. Pakistan’s opening duo of Imam ul Haq and Abdullah Shafique has scored 289 runs each, whereas Babar Azam missed his double-century by just four runs in the last game.

The bowlers have struggled in the series so far, and Pakistan’s spinner Nauman Ali is the highest wicket-taker with seven wickets. Nathan Lyon is at the 2nd position with six wickets, whereas Pat Cummins and Shaheen Afridi have four wickets each in the series.

Both teams would want a competitive wicket in Lahore in order to get a result in the series. This game is an important one for Pakistan as they would want to take home advantage in the ongoing World Test Championship.

Pat Cummins confirms unchanged XI for Pakistan vs Australia Lahore test

Australian captain Pat Cummins has confirmed that the Australian team will be unchanged for the Lahore test. Mitchell Swepson will again partner Nathan Lyon in spin, whereas Josh Hazlewood will miss his 2nd straight game. Pat Cummins believes that the spinners will again have a role to play.

“We were really happy with how all 11 players went last Test,” skipper Pat Cummins said in his press conference.

“Everyone has pulled up really well. We gave them an extra couple of days to make sure everyone has come up good. But there’s no injury worries, everyone is freshened up so we’re confident in the XI.”

Pat Cummins has revealed that the pitch looks similar to the surface in Karachi. There is no real grass on the wicket, and the batters will again enjoy batting here. Cummins said that they have all of their bases covered in terms of swing and reverse swing bowling as well.

Cummins highlighted the fact that fielders need to take their chances. On such flat tracks, even a single missed opportunity can cause a lot of problems. Usman Khawaja dropped the catch of Mohammad Rizwan in 2nd innings of the Karachi test, and it could have turned the game.

“Wickets are at a premium in this series so you can’t afford to drop too many chances. We created more than 10 chances (in the second innings in Karachi) we just unfortunately didn’t take them, so that’s going to be the challenge this week,” Pat Cummins added.

Australia XI for Lahore: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Nathan Lyon.