DURBAN: South Africa have won the toss and opted to bat first in the first T20I of the three-match series against Pakistan here at Kingsmead on Tuesday.
Pakistan team management has decided to drop white-ball vice-captain Salman Ali Agha from the Playing XI for the series opener at Kingsmead.
Saim Ayub, Babar Azam and skipper Mohammad Rizwan will form Pakistan’s top order, followed by Usman Khan, Tayyab Tahir and Muhammad Irfan Khan in the subsequent positions.
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The Green Shirts have opted to field two specialist spinners — Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed, along with pacers Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf.
It’s worth noting that after the first T20I match in Durban today, the action will shift to Centurion for the second T20I, which is scheduled for December 13. The series will culminate with the final T20I in Johannesburg on December 14.
After wrapping up the T20I series, Pakistan and South Africa will play a three-match ODI series.
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The opening ODI will take place on December 17 in Paarl, while the second and third ODIs will be played in Cape Town and Johannesburg on December 19 and 22 respectively.
Pakistan and South Africa will then engage in a two-match Test series, which will kick off in Centurion on December 26, meanwhile, the second Test will start from January 3 in Cape Town.
Pakistan Playing XI: Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Usman Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.
South Africa Playing XI: Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Mathew Breetzke, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (c)(wk), Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Andile Simelane, Nqaba Peter, Kwena Maphaka, Ottneil Baartman
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