Pakistan will start their first Test series at home against Australia in 24 years in Rawalpindi on Friday under heavy security with the tourists on unfamiliar turf.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Let's take look at three players from each side to watch as the long-awaited and potentially fascinating three-Test battle unfolds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
AUSTRALIA<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n - Steve Smith -<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n Started his career as a leg-spinning all-rounder against Pakistan at Lord's in 2010 before developing into one of the most complete batters in international cricket.<\/p>\r\n\r\n His average of 59.87 is unsurpassed by any active Test player and he has proved his adaptability by scoring 1,200 runs in 13 Tests on slow, turning sub-Continent wickets.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Australia will look to Smith -- who by his own lofty standards had a lean series against England with 244 runs at 30.50 and a top score of 93 -- to anchor their batting against a formidable Pakistan attack on pitches alien to the tourists.<\/p>\r\n\r\n - Nathan Lyon -<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n Likely to be the key to winning matches on the slow and turning pitches of Pakistan.<\/p>\r\n\r\n With 415 Test victims, Lyon is Australia's greatest off-spinner and as a slow bowler his tally for his country is only bettered by leg-spinner Shane Warne, who took 708 wickets.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Lyon, who has taken 95 wickets in 19 Tests in Asia, has a knack of understanding how pitches behave and subtly change over the course of a five-day match, having worked as a curator in his early days of the career.<\/p>\r\n\r\n - Marnus Labuschagne -<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n The world's top-ranked batsman shot to prominence when he replaced Steve Smith as concussion substitute in the 2019 Ashes Test at Lord's and scored fifty.<\/p>\r\n\r\n His 23 Tests have seen him score 2,220 runs at 56.92 with six hundreds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Labuschagne's maverick batting style puts him firmly in the same mould as teammate Smith who is the only active player in Tests with a higher average.<\/p>\r\n\r\n His eccentricity and meticulous approach meant he spent the few weeks practising at his house on a home-made mat with aluminium strips taped to it, to try to replicate conditions he may face against Pakistan's spinners.<\/p>\r\n\r\n PAKISTAN<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n - Shaheen Shah Afridi -<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n Since making his Test debut as an 18-year-old three years ago, the tall left-armer's rise has been remarkable.<\/p>\r\n\r\n He possesses a wicked inswinger to right-handers that blew arch-rivals India away in the Twenty20 World Cup last year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Shaheen's red-ball record stands up to scrutiny too -- he was the second highest wicket-taker in Tests last year with 47, just behind Ravi Ashwin's 54 for India.<\/p>\r\n\r\n His 78 wickets in all international cricket in 2021 saw him win the ICC Player of the Year award.<\/p>\r\n\r\n - Babar Azam -<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n When the stylish Pakistan captain Azam plays one of his exquisite cover drives it is said that brings the entire stadium to a standstill.<\/p>\r\n\r\n His superb timing and effortless shot-making have elevated him into the top 10 of the batting rankings in all three formats.<\/p>\r\n\r\n He is number one in 50-over and Twenty20 cricket and is now setting his sights on achieving the same in Tests having accumulated 416 in eight Tests last year, without reaching three figures.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Australia will be aware, though, that his last Test century came at this week's venue in Rawalpindi against Bangladesh.<\/p>\r\n\r\n - Sajid Khan -<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n With an unusual action, Sajid has taken over the off-spinning duties from Bilal Asif who was Pakistan's match-winner against Australia in the 2018 series win in the UAE.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Sajid appears to bowl off the wrong foot, which can be disconcerting for batsmen as he proved by taking 12 wickets against Bangladesh in Pakistan's last Test outing in December.<\/p>\r\n\r\n