Masood reveals reason for replacing Sarfaraz with Rizwan for second Test

Pakistan Test captain, Shan Masood, has shed light on the decision to replace Sarfaraz Ahmed with Mohammad Rizwan for the upcoming second Test against Australia in Melbourne. 

The move comes on the back of a dismal performance by Sarfaraz in the first Test, where the team suffered a crushing 360-run defeat at the hands of the Aussies.

"We think Rizwan is ready and we can give Sarfaraz a little bit of a break to recoup and come back," Shan Masood said.

"It's more of a tactical decision in terms of the conditions and what we can get out of each player," he added.

Masood acknowledged the challenging conditions in Perth and emphasized the need for a strategic approach tailored to each player.

"It was hard out there in Perth. But I still feel there were some positives that probably we didn't do back when we were here in 2019. We don't want to force people to play a certain way. But we've sort of outlined certain things that we want to do better." Pakistan captain Shan Masood on the style of cricket Pakistan want to play in Melbourne.

It is worth noting that the Men in Green suffered a humiliating defeat against the hosts in the opening Perth Test. Given a challenging target of 450 runs, the visiting team was dismissed for a mere 89 runs in the second innings.

Australia named an unchanged XI on Monday for the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as they look to seal the series against Pakistan.

Pakistan has also revealed a 12-member squad for the second Test, with the official starting lineup set to be disclosed tomorrow.

Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Pakistan XII: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (capt), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamer Jamal, Sajid Khan