Pakistan openers Mohammad Hafeez and Imam-ul-Haq put up a 205-run stand during the Day One of the first Test between Pakistan and Australia in Dubai on Sunday.
Pakistan openers Mohammad Hafeez and Imam-ul-Haq put up a 205-run stand during the Day One of the first Test between Pakistan and Australia in Dubai on Sunday.
To put the Imam-Hafeez partnership in context, the ongoing Test was Australia's 813th Test match, and Hafeez and Imam’s 200-plus-run stand for the first wicket was just the 10th double-century opening partnership ever made against the Australians.
Hafeez, playing his first Test for two years made his comeback memorable by clinching his 10th Test ton. He scored 126 runs off 208 balls before he was trapped leg before wicket off Peter Siddle, who interestingly was also returning to his national team after two years.
The other opener Imam missed on his Test hundred as Nathan Lyon dismissed him when the batsman was on 76 runs. Imam’s 188-ball knock was inclusive of 15 boundaries.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to bat on a grassless pitch.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia, underway in Dubai, has witnessed a rare instance in which the captains of both the teams –Ahmed and Tim Paine -were wicketkeepers.
It was for the eighth time in Test cricket both the captains also kept wickets and the last time this happened was in September 2014 - Denesh Ramdin and Mushfiqur Rahim at Gros Islet.
The first time when this instance was witnessed was 52 years back when New Zealand had locked horns with Zimbabwe in a Test and their skippers were wicketkeeper-batsmen Lee Germon and Andy Flower respectively.
If you look at Australia’s current playing XI in Dubai, they have three debutants – Travis Head, Aaron Finch, and Marnus Labuschagne. Last time Australia played three debutants in the same Test was quite recent at Adelaide against South Africa in November 2016 - Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddinson. However, none of these players are playing in this ongoing Test in Dubai.
Australia handed Test caps to Aaron Finch, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne while Pakistan included off-spinner Bilal Asif for his first Test at the age of 33, backing up leg-spinner Yasir Shah.
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