Australia send Pakistan in to bat for MCG ODI

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Australia send Pakistan in to bat for MCG ODI

Captain Pat Cummins has elected to send Pakistan in to bat the MCG as he plays his first ODI since Australia’s stunning 2023 World Cup final triumph.

Cummins won the toss on Monday for the first of three 50-over matches to launch the international summer and preferred to bowl first.

Pakistan have landed in Australia amid off-field turmoil after respected white-ball coach Gary Kirsten quit his position without actually taking charge in an ODI.

Attacking wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan has become Pakistan’s new white-ball captain ahead of this series.

Australia’s World Cup heroes Travis Head and Mitch Marsh are on paternity leave and will miss all three games.

But it gives young blaster Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short an opportunity at the top of the order and a chance to impress in front of their home crowd.

With David Warner retired, Short and Fraser-McGurk are vying to lock down a spot as Head’s opening partner ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

A crowd of below 20,000 is expected at the MCG, with the focus already firmly on the five-Test battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting in Perth on November 22.

AUSTRALIA: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Aaron Hardie, Glenn Maxwell, Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

PAKISTAN: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (capt), Kamran Ghulam, Salman Ali Agha, Irfan Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain

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