First Test, Pakistan Vs Australia at Rawalpindi, Mar 4 - 8 2022, | Playing XI | Match Preview

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🔴LIVE: 1st Test, Pakistan Vs Australia at Rawalpindi, Mar 4 - 8 2022, | Playing XI | Match Preview
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First Test Day 1 Highlights, Full highlights.
Pakistan's absences give Australia chance to start strongly
Both sides were still mulling the balance of their attacks as rain hit the build-up
Big Picture
Australia's arrival in Pakistan for their first Test tour of the country in 24 years has been billed as a momentous occasion for world cricket and it is certainly important. However, they are the sixth nation to tour since 2019 and the fourth to play Test cricket behind Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa.

It is perhaps just as significant that Australia have not played Tests overseas since mid-2019, due to the impact of Covid, prior to Pakistan's first home Test in a decade against Sri Lanka. Since then, Australia have had 14 Tests at home while Pakistan have only played five at home and 12 away. Pakistan have won seven of their last eight Tests including two at home against South Africa early last year. Australia are coming off an Ashes series where they thumped England 4-0, with Sydney's rain the only thing preventing a whitewash.

Australia are at full strength but outside of Usman Khawaja, David Warner and Steven Smith, the rest of the batting group has very little first-class experience in Asia. Pakistan are missing some key contributors from the side that was very successful in 2021 with Abid Ali still recovering from a heart problem, while Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf and Haris Rauf are all absent at least for the first Test.

Australia look stronger on paper but that could be neutralised in the conditions and with a very limited preparation. They only arriving in Pakistan at the start of the week and rain wiped out their last training session on Thursday.