AUS vs PAK: Shan Masood waiting on ‘conditions’ and ‘workload’ to finalise Pakistan bowling attack for 1st Test

Newly-appointed Shan Masood said that Pakistan will finalise their bowling attack for their opening Test against Australia, keeping in mind a lot of factors.

Masood, who is currently leading the national team in the four-day warm-up match against the Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, said that the playing conditions, Australia’s team combination and workload of players will be taken into account before zeroing in on the pace attack.

“We’ll only be able to decide when we get closer to the game, see the pitch, see the conditions, see where the guys are at with their fitness and their loads. You have to look at the opposition as well, match-ups, or type of bowling, is huge in cricket now,” Masood was quoted as saying.

Masood, who recently replaced Babar Azam as Pakistan’s Test captain, hinted that Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali are most likely to be picked, being the ‘senior’ members of the team.

However, Pakistan also have Mir Hamza, Mohammad Wasim Jr and Khurram Shehzad to choose from in their pace attack. Abrar Ahmed and Noman Ali are the spin-bowling options that Pakistan have for the upcoming series.

“Obviously, Shaheen and Hasan are senior bowlers, they are probably pencilled in, but you want to look at everyone and give them a fair run before you make that ultimate decision.

“The permutations on the structure if the side matters as well – do we go with an all-rounder, what will the role of the spinner be? So there are a lot of things we are looking at, and we are very glad we are playing a fixture like this,” he added.

Pakistan’s first Test against Australia is set to get underway on December 14 at the Perth Stadium.