Pakistan bat first in Test series opener

Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat first in the first Domain Test against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane.

Tim Paine's side lines up as expected, with the recalled Joe Burns partnering David Warner at the top of the order, Travis Head returning to the number five slot, and Mitchell Starc favoured in the pace attack ahead of uncapped local paceman Michael Neser.

Pakistan meanwhile, have included 16-year-old quick Naseem Shah, who becomes the youngest Test debutant in Australia. His arrival comes with no shortage of excitement from cricket fans around the globe as well as his own captain, Azhar Ali.

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Australia XI: David Warner, Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Tim Paine (c), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Pakistan XI: Azhar Ali (c), Shan Masood, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Imran Khan 

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"In four or five first-class matches I played with him, he seemed to get better and better," Azhar said on Wednesday.

"He knows his strengths and weaknesses and knows how to read the batsman.

"Not many players can reach that standard so early but there are some exceptions and he is one of them."

Image Id: D7ABE2E2266144359DAA97C9209A2D78 Image Caption: Pakistan great Waqar Younis presents Naseem his maiden Test cap // Getty

Pakistan have also included the in-form Imran Khan, who took 5-32 against Australia A in Perth last week, ahead of Mohammad Abbas, who tormented Australia with 17 wickets in two Tests in the United Arab Emirates a year ago.

Australia coach Justin Langer said Australia's build-up had been relatively relaxed due to the volume of cricket his squad had played in recent months.

"We've had a very different preparation this week than a lot preparations we've had for the first Test in Brisbane before," Langer said.

"And the reason is we've had four or five months of cricket in England, we've had Sheffield Shield cricket, the boys have had some T20 cricket, we've played some one-day cricket.

"So they're up and running, which is a real positive coming into the summer and there's definitely a distinct difference in the feel and preparation of the group."

Langer also challenged his batting group to produce bigger scores and with them, more hundreds – a task the returns of Steve Smith and David Warner will doubtless aid.

Only twice in the past year have Australia scored 350 or more in their first innings, and both of those Tests – against Sri Lanka at Canberra, and the decisive fourth Ashes Test at Manchester – resulted in hefty wins.

"We're number five in the world in Test cricket at the moment, and there's reasons for that," Langer said. "One of them is that we don't score 300-plus in the first innings enough.

"Our batters are very aware of that. They understand that's part of the responsibility and privilege of being selected in the top six in the Australian Test team.

"We're not going to shy away from that. It's no secret. We know we've got to keep improving and I'm confident we will."

Domain Test Series v Pakistan

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Snr, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah.

First Test: November 21-25, Gabba (Seven, Fox & Kayo)

Second Test: November 29 – December 3, Adelaide (d/n) (Seven, Fox & Kayo)