Pakistan announce playing XI for Boxing Day Test against South Africa

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) released the playing XI of Pakistan, which will feature against South Africa in the first Test of the two-match series. The venue for the game is SuperSport Park in Centurion. 

From the makeup of the lineup, it is expected that skipper, Shan Masood, will open the batting in the place of Abdullah Shafique. Shafique has been undergoing a torrid run of late and has been dropped. His recent drought reached a new low after he copped three ducks on the trot in Pakistan's recently concluded three-match ODI series. 

Masood would be anticipated to provide much more stability at the top alongside the flamboyant batter, Saim Ayub. Babar Azam makes a comeback to the Test XI. This comes after the team management dropped him after the first Test of the home series against England in October, after an underwhelming performance on what was a flat Multan deck.

Check out PCB's latest post here:

🚨 Pakistan's playing XI for the first Test against South Africa in Centurion 🇵🇰#SAvPAK pic.twitter.com/8BdXEPAMfh

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 25, 2024

The middle and lower middle order of Pakistan consists of Kamran Ghulam, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan, vice-captain Saud Shakeel, and Salman Agha. Understandably so, the visitors have opted to proceed with an all-pace attack entailing Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, and Mohammad Abbas.

Abbas played his last Test in August 2021. The metronomic medium-pacer forced his way back into the squad with 31 dismissals in five Quaid-e-Azam Trophy games this season. Shahzad, who was ruled out of the series against England, returned to the squad.

Aqib Javed to handle red-ball format for Pakistan

Additionally, this will be interim head coach Aqib Javed’s first assignment with the red-ball setup after taking over the white-ball unit against Zimbabwe, last month. Notably, recently, former Australia pacer, Jason Gillespie resigned from the limited overs coach role under controversial circumstances.

Also Check: South Africa vs Pakistan Match Preview, 1st Test

Meanwhile, when it comes to the head-to-head affair, since 1995, Pakistan and South Africa have played each other in 12 Test series. Pakistan have only been able to emerge victorious in two of them.