According to recent reports in Cricket Pakistan, the team management is looking to make two massive changes to the playing XI in the Sydney Test as they look to drop Imam-ul-Haq and include a spinner specialist in the side.

Pakistan He suffered a big defeat in the second Test match against Australia by 79 runs. The Shan Masood-led team once again put up a show of failure during the second Test of the three-match series and will now want to end the tour with a win in the third Test in Sydney. The third match of the series will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney from January 3.

There has been a major problem for the team in the test series so far as none of the big names have been able to perform well in the series so far. Babar Azamone of the biggest names in the visitors’ batting lineup, has not lived up to the task and could barely score 42 runs in the second game of the series.

Another major problem for the team has been the non-compliance of Shaheen Shah Afridi. Shaheen is the most experienced bowler in Pakistan’s pace attack but he has not been able to shoulder the responsibility. Afridi’s pace and swing steadily declined after recovering from an injury following the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Will Pakistan make changes to the XI in Sydney?

However, the main problem has been the form of opener Imam-ul-Haq, who has not been able to give the team the kind of opening it needs while playing against big teams. Imam came out cheap in both innings of the second Test match played in Melbourne.

Hasan Ali is another player in whom the Pakistan team has invested a lot but has not been able to get wickets so far. If Abrar Ahmed gets fit before the third Test match in Sydney, the Pakistan team could bring in Abrar in place of Hasan Ali.

In place of Imam ul-Haq, another young batsman, Saim Ayub, will be able to play the third Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The Pakistani team has yet to win a Test in Australia since 1995 and has not won a single Test match on Australian soil since then. They have not been able to play well in the last few months and were also eliminated from the round-robin phase of the ODI World Cup 2023. Pakistan also had a poor run in the Asia Cup 2023 and could not beat the lower ranked team, Sri Lanka.

However, the main reason behind Pakistan’s failure in international cricket has been the failure of their pace battery. Pakistani pacers struggled to take wickets in the ODI World Cup 2023 and made a lot of runs. Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi, whose pace was a strength for Pakistan, had become a weakness for the ‘Men in Green’ in the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Pakistan will now want to end the Australian tour with a win in the third Test starting January 3 and also claim their first win in Australia.