Understrength Australia shift focus to three-match ODI series in Lahore

Fresh off a hotly contested Test series victory over Pakistan, an undermanned Australian unit will shift their focus to a trio of one-dayers at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore beginning tonight.

With David Warner, Steve Smith, and Glenn Maxwell all unavailable, skipper Aaron Finch is expected to open the batting with Ben McDermott, whilst Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, and Marcus Stoinis are expected to make up the middle order. All-rounder Cameron Green and wicket-keeper Alex Carey are the favourites to jag the sixth and seventh spots in the batting order, whilst Sean Abbott is expected to lead a new-look bowling unit consisting of Adam Zampa, Nathan Ellis, and Ben Dwarshuis.

Mitchell Marsh and Kane Richardson were late withdrawals from the squad due to injury, whilst wicket-keeper Josh Inglis has been ruled out after testing positive to COVID-19, with Matthew Renshaw rushed over to Pakistan as cover. Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, and Mitchell Swepson are also a part of the squad and may draw consideration throughout the series.

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Pakistan, meanwhile, will be boosted by the inclusion of several of their Test stars; Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi are all expected to lineup for them tonight. Fakhar Zaman, the world’s ninth-ranked ODI batter, is expected to open alongside Imam, whilst Mohammad Haris and Faheem Ashraf are expected to round-out the batting unit, whilst Asif Afridi and Haris Rauf are set to join Hasan Ali and Shaheen in the bowling attack. Australia’s priority will likely be Babar, who is the world’s highest-ranked ODI batter and is fresh off a dominant Test series in which he averaged 78 with a pair of fifties and a huge hundred.

Pakistan enter the series as favourites, despite being ranked sixth in the world compared to third-ranked Australia. Having named a strong squad and playing at home, Pakistan will hope to put an ultimately disappointing Test series behind them and get some wins on the board prior to the T20 World Cup beginning in Australia in October.