At the SCG, Pakistan will bat first after winning the toss, which means David Warner will have to wait for his final Test match to begin. The decision to bat was made by Pakistan captain Shan Masood, who is confident in his team’s ability to perform well in the sunny conditions, with the expectation of turn on the dry surface later in the match. Pakistan’s hopes for a consolation victory have been made more challenging by the absence of Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has been rested after a heavy workload in the first two Tests. Specialist spinner Sajid Khan and debutant Saim Ayub have been brought into the team to strengthen Pakistan’s lineup. Despite their losing streak, Pakistan’s last Test victory in Australia was at the SCG in 1995. The Australian team remains unchanged and will field the same XI for the entire series. The New Year’s Test in Sydney has been affected by bad weather in recent years, but the forecast for this match is relatively clear. The team compositions are as follows:
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (capt), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Hasan Ali, Aamer Jamal, Sajid Khan, Mir Hamza
