Pakistan Chases Unusual Double Against Australia Amidst Team Challenges

Key takeaway: Those who prioritize the needs and wants of others are the ones who ultimately succeed.

Australia have been lambasted in some quarters for supposedly "not caring" about the ODI format following their shock 2-1 loss to Pakistan. They are fielding an equally diminished T20I side with three first-choice T20I bowlers, the permanent T20 captain Mitchell Marsh and their best T20 opener Travis Head unavailable. It gives Pakistan the chance to complete a rare white-ball series double in Australia, with the same set of fast bowlers minus Mohammad Hasnain set to be unleashed on the same fragile batting unit in the three-match series starting Thursday.

But the immediacy of results in T20I cricket are of even less importance to Australia than the ODI series was. This series is part of the early build-up towards the 2026 T20 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics after their experienced group was bounced out of the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Super Eight phase.

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The winds of change have already swept through during the five T20Is they played in the UK against Scotland and England. Josh Inglis is now the permanent wicketkeeper and will be stand-in captain for this series, as he was for the final ODI in Perth. He is also key pillar in the top four and looks set to bat at No. 3 after making a stunning century in Scotland in that position.

Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk get to open together in T20Is for the first time having alternated as Head's partner in the UK. Fraser-McGurk batted at No. 3 in his last T20I in England and made a half-century. He will be far more comfortable in the shorter form than he was in the ODIs but his method against the moving and bouncing new ball will be tested again by Pakistan's quicks as he vies with Short to be Head's permanent partner in T20I cricket.

Nathan Ellis and Xavier Bartlett will make long-awaited returns from injury and get a chance alongside Spencer Johnson to bed down a place in Australia's next generation T20 attack. Cooper Connolly won't get the opportunity to play his first T20I at home after breaking his hand in the Perth ODI. Josh Philippe comes into the squad.

For Pakistan, it will be their first T20I since failing to make the Super Eight at the T20 World Cup in June. The RizBar style of cricket received intense criticism in the wake of that World Cup with Babar Azam losing the white-ball captaincy to Mohammad Rizwan. Any changes to their style of cricket and long-term planning for 2026 and 2028 have been shelved after Gary Kirsten's resignation with Jason Gillespie in temporary charge. Pakistan did not need to show any upped aggression with the bat in the ODI series given it was won off the back of a superb fast bowling performance. They will undoubtedly look to replicate that bowling success in the T20I series against a similar Australia top-order.

How they structure the batting remains to be seen with Saim Ayub not named in the squad after opening in their last T20I alongside Rizwan and making 82 and 42 in the two ODI wins in Adelaide and Perth. Pakistan also hardly used a fifth bowler in the ODI series but will likely need a fifth and sixth options in the T20Is.

Form guideAustralia: LWWWW (Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan: WWLLL

Strike-rate watch: what tempo will Babar Azam play with in this series?

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AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight: Tim David and Babar Azam

Tim David is in an interesting phase of his career. At 28, the T20 gun for hire has come off the boil as a finisher in recent times in what is a brutally difficult role to be consistent. He remains a key part of Australia's middle-order in the shortest form but the team hierarchy identified that he was underused in the World Cup and would like to let him face more balls to give him more time to get set before the final overs launch. He batted at No. 5 once in the five games on the recent UK tour. He may get an opportunity in that slot during this series.

Babar Azam is still the No. 4-ranked T20I batter in the world but his strike-rate was a focus of attention in the wake of the World Cup failure. Where he bats in this series remains to be seen but he will be freed up. He looked in good touch in the ODI series but was not under any scoring rate pressure in those games. It will be interesting to see whether he can go up the gears in the T20Is or whether he sticks to his methods.

Team news: Injured quicks return for AustraliaAustralia will have at least three forced changes from their last T20I in September with Head, Connolly and Cameron Green all unavailable. Glenn Maxwell returns after resting from the T20I portion of the UK tour. Ellis, Bartlett and Johnson are back from injury to join Sean Abbott in the squad. Three of those four will form the pace attack alongside Adam Zampa with some rotation likely to occur across the three games.

Australia (probable): 1 Matt Short, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 3 Josh Inglis (capt/wk), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Tim David, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Aaron Hardie, 8 Nathan Ellis/Sean Abbott, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Spencer Johnson, 11 Adam Zampa

Pakistan are set to make at least five changes from the side that last played in the T20 World Cup in June. Only Rizwan, Babar, Usman Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf remain in the squad from that XI.

Pakistan squad: Mohammad Rizwan (capt/wk), Abbas Afridi, Agha Salman, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wk), Irfan Khan, Jahandad Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan.

Pitch and conditionsThere has only been one professional game at the Gabba so far this season and it was a WBBL fixture. It was one of the highest scoring games of the season and both sides expect a good white-ball pitch with more pace and bounce for the fast bowlers. It will be warm and humid though so the ball will likely swing. There is also the small threat of rain and a thunderstorm in the forecast.

Stats and trivia

Since the famous 2021 semi-final in Dubai, the two sides have only met once in T20I cricket and it was a one-off game in Lahore in 2022 that was tacked onto the tour schedule so late that Marnus Labuschagne was selected to play his only T20I to-date after playing the ODIs. Pakistan have never beaten Australia in Australia in T20Is. They have played four and lost three with one no result. Inglis will be Australia's third T20I captain in as many games after Head and Marsh captained the previous two. It is the fourth time Australia have had three different leaders in consecutive T20Is after instances in 2022-23, 2016 and 2007. It is also the second time Australia have had four different T20I captains in a calendar year after Matthew Wade captained a game in New Zealand in February.

Quotes"T20 cricket is obviously a totally different format, so I guess we'll take our learnings from the ODI series and the information we gathered on the bowlers and their batters. But it's a clean slate, new format. We're really looking forward to it."
Josh Inglis on bouncing back from the ODI series loss