KARACHI: Babar Azam won the toss and decided that Pakistan will bat first against New Zealand today in Karachi.
Almost 13 years after his debut, Sarfaraz Ahmed makes a comeback to the Pakistan Test team after a gap of four years, plays his 50th Test match and his first ever in Pakistan. All of his previous 49 Test matches came outside Pakistan.
Five players from Karachi are getting to play in front of their home crowd today: Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood, Abrar Ahmed and Mir Hamza.
Mohammad Rizwan is dropped after playing 26 consecutive Test matches with a batting average of 39.
Mir Hamza finally gets to play his second Test match for Pakistan, his only previous Test came in 2018. He moves out of the list of one Test wonders for Pakistan, 46 players are in that list now.
Pakistan have now tried 19 different players in their last four home Test matches, 17 players were used in the series against England, while two more have joined today.
It is interesting to note that both New Zealand and Pakistan are coming off four consecutive Test losses. Which side will turn it around is remained to be seen.
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