AUS vs PAK: Shaheen Afridi named vice-captain for Australia Test series

In a strategic turn, ace Pakistan speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi has been named as vice-captain of the Test team for the forthcoming series against Australia which is part of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Pakistan will play three Test matches during the tour, with the first game being contested from December 14-18 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. The tour kicked off on December 6 with a match between Pakistan and Prime Minister's XI at Canberra.

Shaheen has so far featured in 27 Tests, 53 ODIs, and 52 T20Is for Pakistan and has picked up 105, 104, and 64 wickets, respectively. Earlier, the 23-year-old was appointed as Pakistan's T20 captain after Babar Azam stepped from the captaincy role in all formats of the game following a dismal campaign in the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India. The fast bowler will be the deputy to Shan Masood, who was recently named Pakistan captain in the longest format of the game.

The left-arm fast bowler, who is renowned for his lethal pace and swing, has been a key asset for the Pakistan team in all formats of the game. The youngster's experience adds valuable depth to Pakistan's leadership structure in the forthcoming series.

In addition, Pakistan are coming with high hopes as they are currently leading the WTC 2023-25 points table after a series victory over Sri Lanka in July this year. The upcoming series marks the reigning global Test champions, Australia's second series of this WTC cycle. They are coming off after retaining the Ashes series.

Here are the playing XI for AUS vs PAK 1st Test:

Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

Pakistan XI: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (C), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad.