Head to lead in first T20I; Pakistan's focus on Babar and Afridi's returns

In theory, three T20Is in four days in Pakistan would be the ideal warm-up for both Pakistan and Australia ahead of a T20 World Cup in the subcontinent that starts just six days after the bilateral series ends on Sunday.

In reality, it is a timely series for the hosts, who are looking to bed down their best combination after some senior players were missing in the January series against Sri Lanka. For Australia, it is an ill-timed series, arguably too close to the recent BBL, where their captain Mitchell Marsh and wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis were involved until the last day, and too far away from their first World Cup match on February 11 for the injured trio Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Tim David to get valuable game time.

Australia's selectors have decided to abandon any thought of using it as a full-fledged warm-up for their first-choice World Cup combination as a whole given the vast majority of their squad played the entirety of the BBL. They will instead use it as individual preparation for Travis Head and Cameron Green, who both skipped the BBL post the Ashes, as well as to expose some future talent in Mahli Beardman and Jack Edwards, among others.

Australia are without Hazlewood, Cummins, David, Nathan Ellis and Glenn Maxwell in Pakistan, with all five to join the World Cup squad in Sri Lanka. Marsh and Inglis are unlikely to play in the first game in Lahore having only left Perth on Tuesday after being allowed to stay and celebrate Sunday's BBL victory for Perth Scorchers.

It means that Head will captain the side for the second time in his career, having led in a T20I in England in 2024. Xavier Bartlett is the only fast bowler in Australia's World Cup squad who will be available in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan have their entire World Cup squad available for the three-match series with Mohammad Wasim Jnr an extra addition for the Australia series as pace-bowling cover. Haris Rauf is not part of either squad, which has surprised many in Australia due to his excellent BBL form.

Shaheen Shah Afridi returns from a knee injury that saw him ruled out of the BBL. There is much interest in how Babar Azam goes in the series as a precursor to the World Cup after enduring a difficult BBL, striking at 103.06 in 11 innings. How he fits into the batting order that tried to showcase more dynamism in the rain-affected series in Sri Lanka remains to be seen.

Pakistan LWWLW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Australia LLWWW

Babar Azam was a headline act in the BBL but it was not in the way either he or Sydney Sixers had envisaged. He scored 202 runs across 11 innings at a strike rate of 103.06 - the lowest for any player who has ever scored over 200 runs in a BBL season. In a crucial group-stage game, he took offence when team-mate Steven Smith turned down a single off the last ball of an over to keep Babar off strike, and though they eventually reconciled, Babar scored one run in the two innings that followed.

In Babar's eight T20I innings in 2025, all at No. 3, he struck at above 109 in only two. Both of those were half-centuries, one against Zimbabwe where he was the slowest scorer in the top three and the other in a successful low-scoring chase against South Africa where he played his preferred anchor role to perfection. How Pakistan use Babar, and how he plays in these three games could have a significant bearing on their World Cup plans.

Meanwhile, Cameron Green did not play in the BBL after opting to rest following an equally difficult Ashes series where he got starts in six of his eight innings but failed to convert any of them into half-centuries. His Test place came under significant public pressure despite Australia winning the series handsomely 4-1. His place in the T20I side is in no doubt but he has not played the format since August after missing Australia's two most recent series - against New Zealand and India - to prioritise his Ashes preparation.

Green will return to bowl in T20Is for the first time since the UK tour in 2024 when he injured his back, which led to surgery. Batting at No. 4, and providing an extra seam option particularly if Australia play two spinners at times in the World Cup, makes Green a key pillar to their success in the tournament.

Pakistan will look to throw Khawaja Nafay in as soon as possible to acclimatise him ahead of the T20 World Cup. Shadab Khan may get a run, too, and while Afridi has been passed fit following a knee injury, when he returns to the starting XI remains a point of interest.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Fakhar Zaman/Shadab Khan, 5 Salman Agha (capt), 6 Mohammad Nawaz, 7 Khawaja Nafay (wk), 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi/Naseem Shah, 10 Salman Mirza, 11 Abrar Ahmed

Australia named their XI four hours before the match. Marsh, Inglis and Marcus Stoinis will be unavailable for game one with Head to captain. Josh Philippe will keep wicket with Matt Renshaw making his T20I debut. There will also be full international debuts for allrounder Jack Edwards and quick Mahli Beardman after their impressive BBL campaigns.

Australia: 1 Travis Head (capt), 2 Matt Short, 3 Cameron Green, 4 Matt Renshaw, 5 Cooper Connolly, 6 Mitchell Owen, 7 Josh Philippe (wk), 8 Jack Edwards, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Mahli Beardman

The games start at 4pm local time to preclude the possibility of winter fog interrupting the game late in the evening. The Gaddafi Stadium has produced flat, high-scoring surfaces of late with quick outfields. While there's little reason to expect anything different from the pitch itself, intermittent rain over the past week have played a part in slowing the outfield down. There is no further rain expected, though, so the series should be uninterrupted.

"My wish is to do a press conference one day and no one asks about Babar."
Salman Agha says the team's focus remains firmly on the collective rather than one individual

"I didn't pack too many jumpers; I wasn't aware Pakistan got this cold."
Mitch Marsh comes into the T20I series less acclimatised to the weather than he might have hoped