When Day One of the first Test between Pakistan and Australia went underway in Dubai on Sunday, a rare instance in Test cricket was witnessed in which the captains of both the teams – Sarfraz Ahmed and Tim Paine -were wicketkeepers.
It was for the eighth time in Test cricket both the captains also kept wickets and the last time this happened was in September 2014 - Denesh Ramdin and Mushfiqur Rahim at Gros Islet.
The first time when this instance was witnessed was 52 years back when New Zealand had locked horns with Zimbabwe in a Test and their skippers were wicketkeeper-batsmen Lee Germon and Andy Flower respectively.
If you look at Australia’s current playing XI in Dubai, they have three debutants – Travis Head, Aaron Finch, and Marnus Labuschagne. Last time Australia played three debutants in the same Test was quite recent at Adelaide against South Africa in November 2016 - Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddinson. However, none of these players are playing in this ongoing Test in Dubai.
Pakistan skipper Ahmed won the toss and opted to bat. Pakistani opener and veteran Mohammad Hafeez is returning to the national team after nearly two years. He along with Imam-Ul-Haq gave Pakistan a flying start as they were 89 for no loss at lunch.
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Babar Azam, Yasir Shah, Bilal Asif, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Abbas
Australia: Tim Paine (c & wk), Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, Jon Holland, Nathan Lyon
