Pakistan to begin their WTC campaign against South Africa

By: Abdul Raheem Fakhar

Pakistan will kick off their World Test Championship (WTC) campaign against defending champions South Africa from Oct 12 in Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.

This is the fourth ICC World Test Championship Cycle (WTC), and Pakistan has finished fifth, seventh, and ninth in the previous three cycles, respectively. In the last WTC, Pakistan lost 9 out of 14 matches, in which they lost 4 matches in the home series, which resulted in Pakistan's worst position in WTC, being placed at the bottom of the table in the WTC 2023-2025.

After three forgettable campaigns in WTC, this time under leadership of Shan Masood looks to better their record in Test Championship but their first challenge is none other than the defending champions South Africa, even though Pakistan has home advantage but it will be a great test to see, whether Pakistan begin their campaign with a strong start or once again follow their form in previous editions.

In the last edition, Pakistan made a spin-friendly pitch, which helped them win their first Test series on home soil after three years against England, but it was too late, as the damage was already done. They already lost to Bangladesh 2-0 on home soil and also lost their first match against England. Even with spin-friendly pitches, the series against the West Indies was drawn. 

Pakistan has to learn from their mistakes, not only do they have to triumph their series on home soil but also tackle the away series accordingly. They need to prepare according to the away conditions, whether it is pace, swing or spin. They also need to keep in check the over-rates, as slow over‑rates cost Pakistan points in multiple matches. For instance, against Bangladesh, they lost 6 overs and got penalised.

The key issues like changing of leadership multiple time in a single cycle changes the momentum, not only the leadership but also the coaching staff, as we seen multiple chop and change in head coach of red ball, which makes it difficult for the team to adjust with different coaches in a cycle and also for the coach to join the team in the mid of the cycle. The fielding was also one of the major issues, as fielding cost Pakistan expensively in the series against Australia; there were multiple drops at crucial times, which, if taken, could have changed the outcome of the game.

Pakistan, after this series, will play their next WTC series in 2026; three consecutive away series will follow, in Bangladesh, the West Indies, and England, after which Pakistan will then resume the home leg in November 2026 against Sri Lanka before their campaign ends against New Zealand in March 2027. Overall, they will play five Test series of two matches each, while the England tour will see three Tests.

In the two-match series against South Africa, the first match will be played in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, from Oct 12 to 16, while the second test match will be played in Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from Oct 20 to 24. The test squad of both nations have been announced already. The Pakistan squad initially consisted of 18 players, which is now reduced to 16, as they omitted Amir Jamal and Faisal Akram. In the South Africa squad, Aiden Markram will lead the side, as Temba Bavuma is out of this series due to a calf strain.

Squads:

Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wicket-keeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi

South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj (second Test only), Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Prenelan Subrayen, Kyle Verreynne (wicket-keeper)