SPORTS: Pakistan declared the favorite for the only T20 match against Australia

The Pakistan team led by Babar Azam has also been declared the favorite for the one-day T20 match against world champions Australia on April...

The Pakistan team led by Babar Azam has also been declared the favorite for the one-day T20 match against world champions Australia on April 5 after a stellar performance in the one-day series.

 

Pakistan beat Australia 1-2 in ODI series — Photo: AFP

"We had a great performance from Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq," Australia captain Arun Finch was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Australia caretaker coach Andrew McDonald also called Babar Azam dangerous and said that Pakistan is always a dangerous team at home.

He said that Babar Azam performed brilliantly in the one-day series and created difficulties for us.

It may be recalled that Babar Azam had scored 276 runs in three matches of the ODI series and with him opener Imam-ul-Haq had scored 298 runs and thanks to this brilliant performance Pakistan had won the series 1-2.

The Pakistani team had set a record in the history of the country by scoring 349 runs.

Injured Australia have made three changes to the squad that beat Pakistan in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in Dubai last year.

After defeating Pakistan in the semi-finals of the World Cup, the Australian team defeated New Zealand in the final and became the champion.

Pakistan has a T20I record against the visiting team with 12 out of 22 wins, one draw and one draw.

Australian coach McDonald's encouraged captain Finch, who was seen struggling in the one-day series, saying that he had scored 23 runs in the first match and was out for zero in the other matches but would return to form.

He said that he has the ability to go through such difficulties.

"Do we think he in a good position to play at this level, then 100 percent yes and that's very simple for us," McDonald said.

He said spinner Ashton Agar and extra player Josh should be available after being dropped from the ODI series due to England code.

Both squads for the match consist of these players:

Pakistan: Babar Azam (Captain), Shadab Khan, Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, Fakhr Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hassan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdal Shah, Mohammad Haris, Zahid Mahmood, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Shaheen Shah Afridi. Shahnawaz Dhani, Usman Qadir

Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), Shane Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorf, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshowis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marno LeBoschin, Ben McDomt, Marcos Stevenson, Mitchell Sweep