Australia made to bowl first in Warner’s farewell Test
Scott Bailey |
David Warner will be made to wait to take centre stage in his farewell Test for Australia, after Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first at the SCG
Having announced his retirement plans in early June, Warner has survived nine straight selection meetings to hold his spot through to his dream Sydney farewell.
The opener will sport a replacement baggy green to start the SCG Test, after his regular hat was lost in transit between Sydney and Melbourne.
“I haven’t found my caps so as I said in my (Instagram) video, if you have got my backpack, I will give you my backpack,” Warner told Fox Cricket before the toss.
“All I want is those baggy greens back please.”
Australia have kept an unchanged side for the third match of the series, with all three frontline quicks pulling up fine after sealing the Benaud-Qadir Trophy with a 79-run win at the MCG last week.
Pakistan have suffered a blow with the spiritual leader of their attack, Shaheen Shah Afridi, rested after concerns over his fitness following a heavy workload.
That has allowed the tourists to play a spinner in Sajid Khan, who will feature in a Test in Australia for the first time.
Opener Imam-ul-Haq has been dropped, with 21-year-old Saim Ayub to debut in his place.
AUSTRALIA: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
PAKISTAN: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (capt), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman, Sajid Khan, Hasan Ali, Aamir Jamal, Mir Hamza.
AAP
