Web desk: Pakistan’s test series against the recently crowned World Test Champions, South Africa, is around the corner, and this may raise several eyebrows, but Pakistan are the favourites to win it.
Pakistan had a mixed Asia Cup campaign, featuring a combination of good and bad performances.
They may have lost three matches, including the final against their arch-rivals, but there were several positives that they may build on for the future.
However, the series against South Africa brings a long-awaited change in formats.
It has been 254 days since Pakistan last played a Test match – against the West Indies in January 2025. But the series is starting this Sunday, and Pakistan will try to win it and get some crucial points in the WTC cycle.
What makes Pakistan the favourite in this series? Let’s break it down.
Rank-Turner Pitches
Since test cricket returned to Pakistan in 2019, after a 10-year hiatus, the Pakistani team has not performed well in home conditions.
The reason was the pitches, which were so docile that batsmen piled on runs and bowlers starved for wickets.
Things got so bad that they ended up getting clean-swept by England 3-0. It was followed by one of the most shameful performances in their test cricket history when they got clean swept by Bangladesh 2-0.
Aqib Javed proposed that Pakistan should change the nature of the pitches used for these matches.
So, they started making spin-friendly wickets. The picture went viral on social media, showing industrial fans and heaters being used to bake the pitches at the Rawalpindi cricket stadium. And these efforts bore fruit when the pitches started turning from Session 1, Day 1, because the cracks began to open.
After losing to England in the first test match on a docile Multan wicket where Pakistan lost the game despite scoring 556 runs in the first innings, the pitch curators developed a spin paradise for the next two matches.
The Pakistani team went in with three spinners, Sajid-Noman-Abrar and the results were imminent.
Pakistan won both the matches and the series 2-1. And these are the kinds of pitches Pakistan is definitely going to serve to South Africa in the upcoming two-match series.
The Spin Duo of Sajid and Noman
The most astonishing stat from the series against England was the return of the duo Sajid Khan and Noman Ali.
The curators had made spin-friendly wickets, but the team needed proper spinners to exploit the conditions and trap the opposition, and this is what Sajid and Noman did.
In the last two matches against England, they took 39 of the 40 available wickets, which is nothing short of magical. Noman took 20 wickets at an average of 13.85, and Sajid took 19 wickets at an average of 21.10.
Both of them are pretty handy with the bat. In the third test, the Pakistani team was reeling at 177 for 7 when Noman and Sajid played brilliant cameos of 45 and 48, respectively, to take them to a respectable total.
The Pakistan team will rely heavily on them again in this series, and if Pakistan wants to win, both Sajid and Noman will need to weave a spin web around the South African batters.
Pakistan’s Batting Lineup and Likely Playing XI
Pakistan has a fairly settled batting lineup in Test cricket, as opposed to their T20 and ODI teams. The openers are still not performing that well in test cricket, but they have a solid middle order.
Shan Masood is confirmed for one of the opening slots, and the 2nd one will be decided between Abdullah Shafique and Imam Ul Haq.
The latter had a great domestic season, where he piled on runs in both English county cricket and the Pakistan domestic circuit. He must be included in the team, and his form should be utilised.
Kamran Ghulam will play at 3 with Babar Azam at 4. Saud Shakeel, the most consistent test batter from Pakistan in the last few years, will slot at 5. Muhammad Rizwan will keep wickets and is expected to bat at 6.
Pakistan T20 captain Agha Salman will bat at number 7, where he has performed really well.
Since the pitches are expected to be rank turners, Pakistan is expected to go in with 3 spinners and a lone pacer. Sajid and Noman are confirmed, and they will most likely bring in the leg spinner Abrar Ahmad to add a bit of variety.
Pakistan has three pacers in their squad, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Khurram Shahzad, but it seems likely that Shaheen Shah Afridi will be given the nod.
He has looked in great rhythm in the recently concluded Asia Cup, and he must play some red-ball cricket to improve his line and length even more.
Here is the likely playing XI for the first match, scheduled to start on October 12, 2025.
- Imam Ul Haq/Abdullah Shafique
- Shan Masood
- Kamran Ghulam
- Babar Azam
- Saud Shakeel
- Muhammad Rizwan
- Salman Ali Agha
- Noman Ali
- Sajid Khan
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Abrar Ahmad
- Concluding Remarks
South Africa may be the World Test Champions, but they will have a hard time coping with a trial by spin.
The Pakistani team must take confidence from their recent performances in test cricket. Their bowlers will give the South African batters a tough time, but it is Pakistani batting that has crumbled in the past.
Pakistani batters are prone to spin bowling, but South Africa won’t have the services of Maharaj available, who is out with an injury.
They have a relatively new spin bowling lineup, and Pakistani batsmen must put them under pressure.
If they bat well, Pakistan has every chance of beating the African team and gaining some crucial points in the current World Test Championship cycle.
