Pakistan have already started their tour of Australia on a high by beating Cricket Australia XI by 206 runs in a warm-up game. These are signs of warning for the Aussies who come into the series at the back of a 1-2 defeat against South Africa.
The whole Australian team was put under scanner after losing the first two against the Proteas dismally and the only way they could answer back was to jump back in some style.
The third one was a pink ball, Day and Night affair and Australia owned it from the word go. They pulled off a seven-wicket victory to carry some momentum forward to the One-Day series against New Zealand.
The new found confidence showed as David Warner led from the front with the bat to help Australia win all three matches of the series and now they are quite ready to face Pakistan.
Pakistan, on the other hand, are also coming into the series at the back of a 2-0 Test series defeat against New Zealand who were quite brilliant in their own backyard.
Here in the article, we note down the five things to look forward to in the upcoming series with the first one starting from December 15.
#1 The first Test is a pink ball game
Both teams are not quite strangers to the pink-ball or the day-night Test. While Australia have played two, Pakistan have just featured in one against West Indies. So they will be quite aware of the challenges.
Now pink-ball games have been quite a huge hit in Australia so expect the Gabba to be packed to capacity when Mitchell Starc runs into bowl his first delivery to Azhar Ali.
Both sides have world class quality pacers and so it will also be interesting to see how they get going with the pink Kookaburra which does not swing as much as the red ball.
All in all, the stage is set to have a grand affair.
#2 Which team can deliver under pressure?
While Pakistan are coming off a 2-0 defeat against New Zealand, the hosts too have lost their last test series against the Proteas 2-1. So both teams will be under pressure to perform well.
However, it will slightly be a little bit more on Australia who were put to the sword by the media after performing miserably against the South Africans.
But the thrashing might all just spur them on to go all out against Pakistan who struggle on pacy and bouncy wickets and Australia will make sure they do.
Both sides have a lot of youngster playing for them and whichever outfit handles the pressure better will triumph.
#3 The Australian middle-order versus Pakistan pacers
It will be interesting to see how the likes of Nic Maddinson and Peter Handscomb who were brought into the side in the last Test against South Africa fare against the Pakistani pacers. The middle-order which also might feature Mathew Wade lack experience and may fall like a pack of cards if put under severe pressure.
Who else, better to put pressure on the middle-order than the trio of Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, and Rahat Ali.
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has already revealed that Riaz will be the “No.1 weapon in Australia” and if the veteran left-arm seamer can bag a few quick wickets you can expect a spell like the one in 2015 World Cup where he was constantly fizzing past Shane Watson’s helmet.
Overall it will be an interesting contest to look forward too.
#4 Yasir Shah can be Pakistan’s trump card again
The legspinner hurt his back in a training session on December 6 and Pakistan were forced to call up 17-year-old Mohammad Asghar as a backup. But it looks like Yasir has recovered and can cause a lot of trouble to the Australians.
The Aussies are known to struggle against spin, which was recently on view in Sri Lanka where Rangana Herath spun a web around them, well, Yasir can do it here too.
Only relieve for the Australians will be that the Gabba strip won’t turn as much as it did in Colombo but then again Yasir is deadly accurate too.
The leg-spinner has the ability to turn the game on its head within a space of few deliveries and he can be Pakistan’s trump card in the series.
#5 How Australian veterans like David Warner and Steve Smith perform
Australia’s success will depend on how their talismanic batsmen David Warner and Steve Smith, who is also the captain perform in the series.
In the ODI series which ended yesterday both Warner and Smith were brilliant scoring three massive centuries in between them.
This new found confidence might also help their Test batting when they kick-start the tour. Now, if this pair starts to get runs it will be quite difficult for Pakistan to make a mark in the series.
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