Toss Pakistan chose to bat vs South Africa
As it was in Lahore, it is in Rawalpindi. Shan Masood won the toss and chose to bat in the second Test on a surface that has been described as even more abrasive than the fone for the first Test. Asked by Ramiz Raja whether losing the toss was “25% of the game” gone, South Africa’s stand-in captain Aiden Markram said, “You can’t believe that.” But he acknowledged he would have batted first too.How much it will spin might be hinted at by team selection. Pakistan have given a Test debut to 38-year-old left-arm spinner Asif Afridi, who has 198 first-class wickets to his name. Asif replaced Hasan Ali, which left Pakistan with just one seamer in Shaheen Shah Afridi. That was Pakistan’s only change with the batters who did the job in Lahore expected to do it again.South Africa also changed things up in the spin department and welcomed back first-choice left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who replaced offspinner Prenelan Subrayen. Maharaj was unavailable for the first Test as he recovered from a groin injury. He joined Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy in a three-spin, two-seam attack, which includes a left-arm option.Marco Jansen was picked in the XI ahead of Wiaan Mulder, who only bowled two overs in Lahore. That will also force a change in the line-up with misfiring Tristan Stubbs pushed up to No. 3 – where he started last season – and no space for David Bedingham or Zubayr Hamza.
Pakistan lead the two-match series 1-0 with South Africa yet to register any points in their World Test Championship title defence.
Pakistan: 1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Salman Agha, 8 Noman Ali, 9 Asif Afridi, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Sajid Khan
South Africa: 1 Aiden Markram (capt), 2 Ryan Rickelton, 3 Tristan Stubbs, 4 Tony de Zorzi, 5 Dewald Brevis, 6 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Senuran Muthusamy, 10 Simon Harmer, 11 Kagiso Rabada
