PAK vs AUS Dream11 prediction: 3 players you can pick as captain or vice-captain for today's 3rd Test - March 21st, 2022
Pakistan and Australia will lock horns in the third and final Test at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, starting on March 21, Monday.
Pakistan are entering this game after a top-class performance with the willow in the fourth innings of the Karachi Test. Captain Babar Azam’s 196-run knock and Mohammad Rizwan’s gritty century helped save the game on a surface where bowlers struggled to pick up wickets.
Pakistan will be entering more or less with the same lineup in the Lahore Test. Babar Azam is confident spinners would get a fair bit of turn in the later stages of the game, with cracks to open up. Zahid Mahmood, the leg-spinner, could get a look-in in place of Nauman Ali or Sajid Khan.
Australia, meanwhile, dominated most of the Karachi Test barring the fourth innings. Pat Cummins has retained the same XI with Josh Hazelwood getting benched again and both spinners getting another chance.
With a similar surface on offer, the team batting first would have a good chance of winning. Nevertheless, bowlers will need to toil hard to pick up 20 wickets in the Test.
On that note, here are three players whom you can pick as captain or vice-captain in your Dream11 team for the PAK vs AUS Test.
#3 Marnus Labuschagne (AUS)
Australia's No.3 batter Marnus Labuschagne's rise in Test cricket has been phenomenal.
He has so far scored 134 runs in three innings at an average of 45 in this series. With bowlers not getting any assistance, Labuschagne would love to add more runs to his tally.
Furthermore, Labuschagne picked up one wicket on the dead Rawalpindi surface. With the Lahore wicket likely to assist spin bowlers, the part-time spinner could roll his arm over again.
#2 Babar Azam (PAK)
With scores of 196, 36 and 36, Babar Azam has led his team from the front. Pakistan’s best batter looked in red-hot touch when the pressure was on in the Karachi Test. He scored a magnificent 196-run knock to help his team save the Test.
With Azam getting back to form, it could be a tall task for the visiting bowlers to get him out early. If the hosts bat first, Azam could produce another big knock.
#1 Usman Khawaja (AUS)
Usman Khawaja is the leading run-scorer in the series with 301 runs in three innings at an average of 150.5. Khawaja has the best record in Asian conditions among Australian batters and would be keen to add more runs to his tally on the Lahore wicket.
The left-handed batter has averaged 111 in Test cricket since his return to the longest format of the game in the recently concluded Ashes series. Recently, the batter has mastered the reverse sweep as he has milked runs against world-class spinners.