On Saturday, December 14, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the playing XI of the Pakistan National Cricket Team for the third and final T20I against the South Africa National Cricket Team just hours before the match.
The dead-rubber final T20I between the Pakistan National Cricket Team and South Africa National Cricket Team is set to be hosted by The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.
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Pakistan announce Playing XI for the third T20I
The PCB selection committee has taken a major decision and dropped the 29-year-old batter Usman Khan from the playing XI. Usman has not been able to replicate his PSL heroics at the international level and has failed miserably despite getting consistent opportunities.
In the first two T20I matches against the Proteas, he looked poor and registered scores of 9 and 3. Overall, he has played 18 T20I matches and scored 232 runs at an average of 15.46 and a strike rate of 122.75, with just one half-century.
Usman Khan has been replaced by the white-ball vice-captain Salman Agha in the playing XI in the third match. Notably, Agha, despite being the vice-captain, was dropped from the team after the Zimbabwe series as he was struggling a lot.
Talking about the rest of the playing XI, the new pair of Mohammad Rizwan and Saim Ayub will continue to open for the side and Babar Azam will be batting at the No.3 spot.
The middle-order responsibility will fall on Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, and all-rounder Irfan Khan. Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Abbas Afridi will form the pace trio, with Abrar Ahmed as a sole spinner and Jahandad Khan has retained his place in the side.
This selection of the playing XI for the third T20I means that Omair Bin Yousuf and Mohammad Hasnain won’t be getting a chance to play for Pakistan in the series.
Pakistan’s playing XI for the third T20I:
Pakistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Rizwan(w/c), Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Abrar Ahmed
Pakistan’s playing XI for the third T20I. Salman Ali Agha comes in place of Usman. pic.twitter.com/dgjSlNXAJE
— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) December 14, 2024
Pakistan lost the T20I series against South Africa
The Men In Green have already lost the three-match series against the Proteas after their poor performance in the first two matches. They lost the first game by 11 runs and the second game by 7 wickets.
Speaking after the series defeat, the skipper Mohammad Rizwan said that they would give their best efforts in the last T20I as they love cricket.
“[on Reeza] He played very well. Saim Ayub was exceptional, after 10 overs, we lost our way, the middle-order is in a learning process, we have an inexperienced side, we were looking at 220-plus, but 4 overs they bowled really well,” he said.
“[on Irfan] He is one of the guys who we are looking at as a powerhitter and hopefully he will continue doing that. We have another match and still we love cricket and would look forward to play tomorrow,” he stated.
