Pakistan playing 11 against South Africa

Pakistan they will be keen to end their tour of South Africa on a winning note when they lock horns against the hosts in the second and final Test of the ongoing Test. series. The second SA vs PAK Test will be played at Newlands, Cape Town from Friday (January 3, 2025).

The defeat ended Pak’s slim chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship final and they will now look to win their next match to end the tour on a high note.. After losing the T20I series, Pakistan bounced back in style and swept the three-match ODI series.

Now they will see a similar performance in the second Test as well. In the first test Pak had almost stunned South Africa but eventually lost the thrilling game by 2 wickets.

Defending 147 runs, Pakistan had reduced South Africa to 19/3 and then 99 for 8. With South Africa still needing close to 50 runs, the visitors were favorites to win the Test. However, they failed to break the partnership between Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada.

The duo shared an unbeaten stand of 51 runs to take their team home. Earlier in the match, the visitors scored 211 and 237 runs in their two innings. On the other hand, South Africa scored 301 runs in their first innings.

With the visitors looking to bounce back and get a series-level win, we’re taking a look at the Pakistan Playing 11 for the second Test.

Pakistan Playing 11 vs South Africa – 2nd Test, Pakistan Tour of South Africa 2024-25:

Openers: Shan Masood (c), Saim Ayub

Captain Shan Masood and Saim Ayub are expected to be the starting XI for the upcoming match against South Africa. Both players were starters in the first game but failed to turn them into big scores.

In the first innings, Masood scored 17 runs while Ayub scored 14 runs. Masood scored 28 runs while Ayub scored 27 runs in the second innings. They will be keen to give their team a better start in the second Test.

Middle-order and all-rounders: Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal

former captain Babar Azam he couldn’t get going in the first innings, scoring just 4 runs. He did well in the second innings though. In testing conditions, Babar played a crucial knock of 50 runs which helped Pakistan to a competitive total.

Kamran Ghulam once again impressed with the bat. He was the visitors’ top scorer in the first innings. Ghulam scored 54 runs and was the only visiting batsman to score a fifty. However, he failed to impress in the second innings and was out for just 4.

After scoring 14 runs in the first innings, Saud Shakeel top-scored for his team in the second innings, playing a crucial knock of 84 runs. Mohammad Rizwan scored 27 runs in the first innings before being dismissed for 3 runs in the second innings.

Salman Agha could not do well with the bat in either of the two innings. He scored 18 in the first innings and 1 in the second. However, the right-handed batsman is expected to retain his place in the Pakistan Playing XI.

Aamer Jamal he made useful cameos in both innings, scoring 28 and 18. With the ball, he took 2 wickets in the first innings.

Bowlers: Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas

The visitors are expected to have three top-line pacers in the Playing 11 for the second Test. Naseem Shah and Khurram Shahzad picked up 4 wickets each in the first Test. Both pacers took 3 wickets each in the first innings before taking one more wicket in the second innings.

On the other hand, Mohammad Abbas claimed a solitary wicket in the first innings before taking 6 wickets in the second innings that put Pakistan on the verge of a famous victory.