Pakistan’s ace speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi has vowed to stop David Warner as Pakistan get ready for the three-match Test series starting on December 14. Warner, included in the Australia squad for the Test series is likely to play his final series for the Baggy Green, having announced his desire to retire from the format after the series. While Afridi was full of praise for the legendary batter he is ready to stop him as the two nations meet in less than two weeks.
Afridi ready to stop Warner
“David Warner has had a great career. He's played really good cricket for Australia, not only in T20Is but across all three formats. He's a wonderful guy. It is his last series, hopefully, not very good against us,” said Afridi.
Warner along with Lance Morris was named in the 14-man squad for the first Test match in Perth before the teams shift to Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the Boxing Day Test. The two nations will then meet in the third Test in Warner’s hometown Sydney. The third Test is likely to be his final outing in the red-ball format as he has already mentioned his desire to hang his boots. The Aussie great has been in great form in the limited-overs format but has struggled in Test format.
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His decision of inclusion in the Test format had a divided opinion in the Australian cricket fraternity with former star Mitchell Johnson lashing out at the board. According to him, the number of controversies Warner was involved in, should not have guaranteed him a grandstand farewell.
Pakistan will look to put behind their disappointing ODI World Cup campaign as they take on the Aussies to resume the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. This will be the first time Pakistan will be captained by Shan Masood who succeeds Babar Azam, with the latter having given up captaincy after the ODI World Cup.
Pakistan squad for Australia Tests
Shan Masood (C), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (WK), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi.