PAK opt to bowl against SA in 1st T20I
Pakistan have roped in Babar Azam in their squad
Proteas will be led by Donovan Ferreira
Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha won the toss and elected to bowl in the 1st T20I against South Africa, to be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi. The two-match Test series ended in a 1-1 draw.
South Africa will be led by Donovan Ferreira and will miss some star names in the form of Aiden Markram, Gerald Coetzee, Tristan Stubbs, Kwena Maphaka, Kagiso Rabada, and Keshav Maharaj.
The series marks the return of Quinton de Kock in the white-ball format after the left-hander reversed his ODI retirement last month. He hasn’t played in the shortest format last year’s T20 World Cup final loss to India.
As for the hosts, they have drafted in Babar Azam in the squad who will keen to showcase his talent after the Asia Cup 2025 snub. Babar, who needs only nine runs to break Rohit Sharma’s all-time record of 4,231 runs in men’s T20 internationals, hasn’t been selected in the format since December. In that time, Pakistan has played 26 T20s.
Pakistan Vs South Africa, 1st T20I: Playing XIs
South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Matthew Breetzke, Donovan Ferreira(c), George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Lizaad Williams, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi
Pakistan (Playing XI): Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Salman Agha(c), Usman Khan(w), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed.
Pakistan Vs South Africa, 1st T20I: Toss
Pakistan have won the toss and have opted to field
Pakistan Vs South Africa, 1st T20I: Captain Speak
Donovan Ferreira: We wanted to bowl first as well but now we have to bat well and try to restrict them after that. I have a role to bat at No. 6. We are excited to have Quinton de Kock back. It gives us a lot of confidence, not only with the gloves, he gives runs at the top of the order. We have Tony de Zorzi making his debut.
Salman Agha: We are going to bowl first. In Pindi, you never know what to restrict the other team to, we want to bowl as well as possible. We have a few new faces and a few comebacks too so I'm very excited about that. (On Babar and Naseem's return to the T20I side) They both have been match-winners for Pakistan in the past and I'm happy to have them back. We have two all-rounders, two pacers and Abrar as our spinner. Myself and Saim can also roll our arm over.
